Harry Potter and the Circle of Confusion
by Jeanne2
Summary: Rated PG just in case-Summary: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco are utterly confused by a potions class gone wrong. Note: this is a crossover. PLEASE R&R! (btw it DOES include TaPie characters from Circle of Magic!) Even if you havn't read CoM, read this!
1. Their potions gone wrong

I don't own anything so there! (You don't want to see what I do own!)  
  
This is gonna be a great fic, so plz read! And review if you have time. (hehe)  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Ten Points from Gryffindor!" Snarled Snape  
  
"With Malfoy? We had to work with him last time!" Draco smirked as Harry stated the unfairness of it.  
  
"With Mr. Malfoy, yes, he knows how I want this sleeping draught completed."  
  
Harry slammed his materials into his cauldron and walked to the front of the classroom with Ron and Hermione close behind him.  
  
"Don't worry, Harry, it will be over in another hour, and we won't have to see Malfoy for two days." Hermione whispered, glancing at Draco as she set her bag next to his table.  
  
"Well, seeing as I am the one Snape trusts to keep you three in line," Draco grinned and Ron snorted. "I think I should be the leader of this lit—"  
  
"Three-fourths liter of pixie urine." Interrupted Hermione. Draco glared at her before turning around and measuring it into his cauldron.  
  
"I'll go get the rest of the materials." Said Ron as he walked past Draco.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"I said three milliliters, NOT THREE LITERS!" Screamed Hermione after Draco added the ground shrivelfig to the potion, and it overflowed and soaked into their robes.  
  
Harry, who had had his back turned when Draco's blunder took effect, could feel the liquid burning his skin as he collapsed to the floor in pain...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"That's a great idea, Sandry!" Exclaimed Daja, "The healers did say they were running low on powerful sleeping potions. And besides, we really need something helpful to do. Personally, I hate being bored and useless at times like this."  
  
"I hate being bored and useless at any time!" Teased Sandry.  
  
"Yeah, well that's just you, isn't it?" Replied Briar.  
  
"Briar, does Rosethorn have the ingredients in her stores?"  
  
"Well, yeah, but we shouldn't just barge in there and—"  
  
"She will understand." interrupted Tris with an impatient air about her. Normally Briar would argue, but it was Tris, and she was liable to start a thunderstorm- quite literally.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Ouch," screamed Sandry as the liquid spread over her hands.  
  
"What's wrong?" Asked Briar, who was feeding the fire beneath the pot, but then he felt the potion bubble onto his hands. He could hear Sandry, then Daja and Tris fall to the ground, before doing so himself. The liquid spread throughout the room, and was absorbed into the prone figures' clothes.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* AN  
  
Good? Well, maybe not yet, but it will be really funny next chapter, or at least eventually. TRUST ME! (hehe) I like to laugh! (hehe) Review if you have time. Tell me about any mistakes!  
  
It was kinda short, but the other ones will be longer- hopefully! 


	2. Ahhhhhhhh!

"Briar!"  
  
Harry felt the wooden floor beneath him groan as someone stepped over him. 'Wooden!?!?' thought Harry, 'we were in Snape's dungeon a minute ago!'  
  
"What were you thinking of, taking things from my private stores? Without even telling me!" A woman's irritated voice sounded directly in Harry's ear. Someone tapped him on the shoulder and the voice kept going, "Are you even listening to me, Briar?" Harry sat up carefully. He didn't feel like himself. He peered at his hands and was shocked to find, they were extremely dirty and were covered in inky vines- and the vines were moving!  
  
"Who are you?" He asked the woman standing above him. He didn't sound like himself either.  
  
"Did you puncture that thick skull of yours?" She asked nastily in reply.  
  
"I hope not." Said Harry. Looking around he saw two more figures lying on the ground, and one sitting up like he was. They were all girls. "Who are they?"  
  
"Oh, Briar, we need to get you to a healer!"  
  
"Wait!" Said a small voice. Harry and the lady looked around at the girl who was sitting up.  
  
"Just a moment, Tris, Briar needs to go to a healer. He seems to have overloaded magic, or hit his head, or something of the sort. Are you feeling alright?"  
  
"Tris? Sorry, I'm not Tris." Said the girl  
  
"Oh dear!" Said the red-haired woman, "Not you too!"  
  
"Who are you then?" Asked Harry.  
  
"Hermione, Hermione Granger."  
  
"HERMIONE!" Yelled Harry "It's me! Where's Ron?"  
  
"Harry, oh I am so glad it's you!"  
  
"Well, you two have confused me." Said the older women. Then to herself, she said "Maybe I should wake Sandry and Daja, and see if they are alright."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Mr. Potter! Mr. Potter, kindly grace us with your mental presence!"  
  
Briar could feel the stone floor under his face, sucking his heat away. He groaned and sat up. His robes were still soaked with foul smelling fluid. 'Robes?' he thought vaguely, he didn't remember any robes. He looked up to the sound of the voice, but his sight was blurry.  
  
"Sorry." He muttered. "Um. where am I? I can't see a thing!"  
  
"That is because your glasses fell off and shattered." Said another voice.  
  
"Ten points from Gryffindor. I would like silence, Mr. Longbottom." Replied the first voice. "Weasley! Granger!" He muttered something under his breath that caused the red-haired boy to sit up, rubbing his head.  
  
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!"  
  
"No need to shout, Mr. Weasley. Ten points from Gryffindor!" Said the first voice coldly.  
  
"I.I.I'm a boy!" yelled the red-haired boy in panic, "n-no, this cannot be happening! N-no, I'm Sandry, Sandry!"  
  
"Sandry?" Briar asked hesitantly.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Briar Moss."  
  
"BRIAR! You look different."  
  
"Look who's talking, Sandry." Neither of them seemed to realize that the whole class was staring at them in disbelief.  
  
"Where are Tris and Daja?" asked Sandry  
  
"I d-don't know-"  
  
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" A silver-haired boy seemed to have been awoken by the same spell used on Sandry.  
  
"What happened?" Asked the boy, "I look different. Wait, I sound different,too. Oh no."  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, is there a problem?" Asked the man who had awoken him. The boy didn't seem to have heard him.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy."  
  
The boy looked around, apparently waiting for somebody to answer the man, then realized that he was talking to him.  
  
"B-but I'm not Malfoy, I'm Daja." Said the boy quietly, then looked up, and spoke to the class, "Do any of you happen to be Sandry, Briar, or Tris?"  
  
"O'r here, Daj'!" Said Briar.  
  
"Not a word!" Snapped Sandry.  
  
"Now that means." Briar said to himself, "that Tris is that girl on the floor."  
  
"Huh? Did someone say my name?" The bushy haired girl stood on wobbly legs. "Wait, where are Briar and Daja and Sandry?"  
  
"Well," said the cold-voiced man, "they seem to be these people over here."  
  
"Well," imitated Tris, "Could you be a bit more vague for me?"  
  
"We're right here, Coppercurls. Try not to be so rude to the people we don't know!"  
  
"Malfoy! Please stop this nonsense and complete your potion!"  
  
"Unfortunately, our potion seems to be what brought us here in the first place!"  
  
"You were never gone!" Snapped Snape  
  
"You might not want to get her into a temper, sir." Stated Briar.  
  
"I am the teacher! And she is a know-it-all brat who needs to be taught a lesson!"  
  
"Tris! No!" Hermione's body was walking up to the professor.  
  
"He called me a know-it-all!"  
  
"Don't hurt him! We don't even know him!"  
  
"He called me a KNOW-IT-ALL!"  
  
SMACK!  
  
Snape stumbled backwards. "Fifty points, no, ONE HUNDRED POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
"Hermione! Stop! You've gone too far! One hundred points! Nooooo!" The Longbottom boy was sobbing. The rest of the class stood staring at the stunned teacher.  
  
"You, you, and you! Take these loons to the Hospital wing immediately!"  
  
"I am not leaving until you explain some things to us!" Shouted Daja.  
  
"Crabbe, Goyle, Longbottom! Do as I said! And take Potter's glasses with you! Reparo!" 


	3. Sorting a few things out

"But Sandry! You need to-"  
  
"RON! RON! I AM RON! RONALD WEASLEY! I don't wanna be a girl!"  
  
"My word, you are all crazy! Daja? Are you crazy too?" Asked the red- haired woman who woke them up.  
  
"Daja?"  
  
Malfoy seemed to have taken on the form of a tall, sturdy black girl. He was looking around the room with the most confused expression of them all. He looked at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, seeing a boy and two girls he didn't recognize. Shifting over, he reached up and felt his now shoulder-length, black hair. He slowly looked down at his dark brown, callused hands, then the rest of his body, before looking once more around the room. And then-  
  
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh"  
  
"For pity sake, Daja! Calm down!"  
  
"W-w-who are you?" Asked Malfoy in a voice that indicated pure terror.  
  
"You know very well who I am, I'm Rosethorn, you know, Briar's teacher..."  
  
"B-but who's B-Briar?" Asked Malfoy.  
  
"He is." Said Rosethorn, pointing to Harry.  
  
"I am not!"  
  
"Well, what shall I call you, your highness?" mocked Rosethorn.  
  
"Sorry, but we seem to have been transported here magically." Said Harry, just barely keeping his temper.  
  
"Wait! No you aren't- you can't be- I don't want to be stuck here with Potter!" Said Malfoy  
  
"And I want to be stuck here with you, Malfoy?!" Harry retorted  
  
"Alright, keep your heads, we'll figure this out- er- eventually. In the meantime, you four have some work to do. If you really are who you say you are, you'll just be filling in for a while, but if not you are in big trouble!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Well," said Madam Pomfrey, suspiciously eyeing Briar, Sandry, Tris, and Daja, "there seems to be absolutely nothing wrong with you four."  
  
"Nothing wrong! What do you mean nothing wrong!? Look at me, I'm a boy!" yelled Sandry. Briar had never felt so sorry for her.  
  
"Of course you're a boy, Mr. Weasley." Madam Pomfrey said, looking over who she thought was Ronald Weasley.  
  
"Excuse me, but I think we should get a few things straight before we leave." Tris said in a voice that was daring Madam Pomfrey to refuse.  
  
"Very well, Miss Granger, what do you need to know?"  
  
"First of all, where in Mithros name are we?"  
  
"You're in the hospital wing, dear." Madam Pomfrey answered kindly, then added, "are you quite sure you're not lying to get out of class?"  
  
"We were in a class?" asked Daja, "Well, that explains why we were being ordered around by that hook-nosed kaq!"  
  
"Mr. Malfoy! Please do not insult the Potions master." warned Madam Pomfrey.  
  
"I don't mean what room we're in, where ARE we?" asked Tris.  
  
"Er- you're at- at Hogwarts." Said Madam Pomfrey hesitantly. "Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry."  
  
"There's a school of witchcraft and wizardry?" asked Tris curiously.  
  
"Yes, and by the way, I have just been informed a few minutes ago that you, Miss Granger, have slapped your potions master."  
  
"I TOLD you!" Snapped Sandry. "I told you not to hit him!" "Okay, so who are we supposed to be?" demanded Sandry angrily, "We've figured out our names, but that doesn't tell us anything."  
  
"Er.I think you can find most of your answers from your fellow Gryffindors. And Slytherins." She added, pointing to Daja, "I believe that it is possible that you all have simply hit your heads too hard on the dungeon floor. Once you get back to your normal schedules, you should begin to remember everything once again, however, I would like you to spend tonight in here before returning to your houses tomorrow.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Briar! Daja! What are you doing?"  
  
Niko had heard some noises coming from the workroom, and had gone to investigate, only to find Briar and Daja yelling at each other at the top of their lungs.  
  
"This is all your fault, Malfoy!" Yelled Briar.  
  
"If you and the Weasel hadn't been so bad at potions, I would have been able to work in peace!" Daja retorted. "And mudblood Granger told me three liters!"  
  
"Excuse me, I said three milliliters!" Snapped Tris  
  
"Shut up, mudblood!" Yelled Daja  
  
"Don't call her a mudblood!" Growled Briar.  
  
"That has nothing to do with it, Potter!" Yelled Daja as Briar made a move toward her.  
  
"No, Harry! That's not Malfoy's body!" Said Tris hurriedly. "You don't know who you're hurting!"  
  
Harry ignored her, and reached into his robes for his wand- except he wasn't wearing robes and his wand was gone. [AN: just this sentence is in Harry's point of view, the rest of the section is in Niko's P.O.V.]  
  
"Where's my wand?" Asked Briar angrily. Just then a vine shot out of the ground and twisted around Daja's arms and then around her waist and legs, paralyzing her body.  
  
"Who did that?" Asked Harry, looking around the room.  
  
"You did," said Rosethorn, "you are a plant mage, Briar."  
  
"I did that?" Briar asked. "I didn't mean to!"  
  
"Well, what did you expect?"  
  
"Of course you did it, it's your magic." Said Niko. "By the way, what did she ever do to you?"  
  
Briar smirked at Daja, before replying, "Well, she has done more cruel things then I have done to her."  
  
"But Daja hasn't done anything to you," Niko pointed out.  
  
"No, Daja hasn't." Said Briar, and then as if in an afterthought, "I don't even know anyone called Daja. But HE has! He has done plenty to me, Ron, and Hermione!" Pointing to Sandry and Tris in turn.  
  
"Okay, let me get this straight," said Niko, "you four think you are other people who have been transported here magically?"  
  
"We don't think we're those people, we really are them!" Said Tris, "I am Hermione Granger, that is Harry Potter, tha- well, that's Ron Weasley, and I guess that's Draco Malfoy."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Getting any better? I am hoping so! Plz review! Report any mistakes; I don't mind constructive criticism. 


	4. Findings in the night

Briar awoke late at night in the hospital wing to a searing pain in his forehead.  
  
"Ouch!" Briar had his hand pressed flat against his forehead. Sitting up, he rubbed his head vigorously, trying to rid himself of the pain  
  
"What's wrong?" Asked Sandry. Briar's yell must have awoken her.  
  
"Ouch!" Briar yelped again; the pain was so intense that Briar's eyes were watering.  
  
Sandry reached up and pried Briar's fingers off of his forehead. "I think there's a mark, hold on." She lit Briar's lamp and held it in front of his face. "It looks like a lightning bolt; I'll go get Tris, she might know what's going on." She left, returning in a few minutes with a very confused Tris close behind her.  
  
"Look at Briar's forehead, Tris!" Said Sandry  
  
"I have absolutely no idea whatsoever," Tris declared after a few minutes, flipping her bushy, brown hair over her shoulder.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Ron stood up out of bed rubbing his eyes and looking for a pitcher of water. He was walking through the doorframe and then--  
  
Harry sat bolt upright. Ron was in trouble! Harry had no idea how he knew this, but he knew something was wrong. 'AHHHH!!! SPIDER!!!! HELP!!!' Ron's voice echoed through Harry's head.  
  
Sighing, Harry walked to the door and down a flight of stairs to find Ron, in the form of Sandry, standing on a chair and staring wide-eyed into the corner of the kitchen.  
  
'Spiders! Spiders! I HATE spiders!' Harry could hear Ron's voice still, but Sandry's lips weren't moving.  
  
"Ron!?"  
  
"Harry!" Yelped Sandry's voice, "I was- was just getting- getting some water. I wasn't doing anything else, just getting water. Do you know where it is? I can't see it from on top of the chair."  
  
Harry walked, smirking, over to the corner and put his bare foot on top of the spider.  
  
Footsteps sounded in the hallway. "What's wrong, Ron?" Harry and Ron turned around to find Tris' body standing in the doorframe.  
  
More footsteps and then a cold, drawling voice, "What is the matter with you, Weasley? Waking us all up over a stupid spider!"  
  
Harry could tell that if Ron had been in his own body, his ears would be so scarlet they might have set on fire.  
  
"How did you two know that I was down here?" Ron asked, ignoring Draco.  
  
"I could just feel something was wrong." Said Hermione through Tris' body.  
  
"Well, I am going to bed!" Said Draco, "And I don't want to be woken up by you anymore!"  
  
"I could hear you in my head," Harry said in a soft voice. 'Maybe we'll always know when each other are in trouble.' Harry thought to himself.  
  
'Wow I can hear you, too. That means we can mind-talk to each other.' Hermione thought back.  
  
'Oh no, I'm going to have to listen to you three inside my head? Just listening to you out loud makes me sick.' Thought Malfoy irritably. 


	5. Many Troubled Lessons

"What's this?" Asked Tris, pulling out a long, thin stick from the inside of her robes.  
  
"Your wand," said Lavender, then she added, "wow, it's really weird to see you not even knowing what a wand is, Hermione!"  
  
"I see," Said Tris, "so, what do I do with it?"  
  
"Er- you cast spells." Said Lavender, pulling out her own wand. "For example: Petrificus Totalus!" She pointed her wand at an unsuspecting Neville Longbottom, who was answering more of Sandry's questions. His arms and legs snapped together and he fell to the ground with a thud. Lavender smiled. "I learned that one from Harry last year."  
  
"Oh." Said Tris, staring at what Lavender had done.  
  
"You can do pretty much all spells imaginable, but they are a lot more difficult than they look." Lavender informed Tris expertly.  
  
Tris looked over to Sandry and Briar; Daja was in the Slytherin common room. Sandry had her eyebrows raised in disbelief at something Ginny had said. Briar was watching Neville and was wearing the same kind of expression as Tris: complete awe.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"So, do we have to go to one class every day?" Asked Sandry  
  
"Well, not every day- and usually we have more than a few classes," replied Ginny, rubbing her arms and legs as she got up off the floor.  
  
"What are the classes we will have? What are they about?  
  
"Well we have charms, we learn lots of things like levitating objects in there, we have transfiguration, and there you turn things you don't need into things you can use, we have potions, you remember that, right? Well in there we make all sorts of potions. You have Divination, you won't like that- it's all future-telling and crazy stuff like that. Care of Magical creatures is another class. That is out on the grounds. You'll learn to take care of magical animals in there. We have history of Magic- that is extremely boring, and you will be asleep in no time. Herbology is something you might like. You get to learn about all sorts of magical plants," said Ginny.  
  
"Oh, Briar will like that one!" Said Sandry, chuckling.  
  
"Yeah-okay," said Ginny.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Why did Daja have to turn into the Slytherin? She had been stuck getting questions answered by this ugly-faced idiot of a Slytherin named Pansy Parkinson for two hours already. Daja now understood this place a little bit better, but she had decided that she HATED Pansy Parkinson.  
  
"So, what is quid-itch?" asked Daja, "I heard someone say something about that."  
  
"Draco, you're usually the best quidditch player at Hogwarts, you are seeker. The seeker tries to catch the tiny golden ball."  
  
"What's so magical about that?" Asked Daja, rather rudely.  
  
"It's played on broomsticks. And I think most of the balls fly."  
  
"So you sweep the floor, do you?" Asked Daja sarcastically.  
  
Pansy's eyebrows rose. "Well, obviously they're flying."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"You seem really stupid now." Commented Pansy, "And Draco, if you still had your memory, you'd be practicing quidditch right now."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"What?" Asked Draco in disbelief. Why did they have to keep these people's schedule? Now he was stuck with this man, named Frostpine, who scared Draco severely.  
  
"I said could you hand me that slab of copper?" Said Frostpine pointing again at the piece of metal lying in the middle of the forge fire.  
  
"But there's nothing to grab it with!" Said Draco.  
  
"Use your hand." Replied Frostpine.  
  
"But-but that'll hurt!" Whimpered Draco  
  
"You'll live," Frostpine sighed sarcastically.  
  
"Er-um-okay," Draco slowly lowered his hand toward the flame. 'This man is crazy,' thought Draco, before bracing himself and thrusting his hand into the fire.  
  
He drew back with a yelp. No pain! Frostpine rolled his eyes. Draco examined his hand. It looked the same as it had ever since he had turned into the girl.  
  
Draco carefully put his hand in the forge again and felt a soothingly warm sensation. He wrapped his fingers around the slab of red-hot metal, pulled it out of the fire, and handed it to Frostpine.  
  
Turning around, he thrust his hands and forearms into the blaze. For a few moments, he felt only mild heat, comforting the skin that had been nearly frozen earlier that day. Then he began to realize that his long-sleeved blouse no longer had any sleeves- they had been burned off! The cloth was ablaze up to his shoulders and a ways down his back and sides.  
  
"Whoa!" Draco yelped, startled. "I-whoa! Help- Postyfine, no Frosty Pine- Fire!"  
  
Frostpine turned to face Draco and sighed in a way that made it obvious that Daja would never have bothered him with such an unimportant comment. Then Draco added dejectedly, "but it really didn't seem that hot!" "It's doesn't matter! Sandry can always make you another tunic."  
"Yeah, but- "  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"I hate this." Said Ron angrily after the tenth time his work had come undone. "Sewing is for girls!"  
  
"Don't worry, dear. Its not that bad." Said Lark kindly.  
  
"I got stuck here because of Malfoy and what do I get? Sewing. And HOW am I supposed to work with these claws for fingernails!?" said Ron, eyeing them with dislike. " How do girls live with that?? And whenever I actually TRY to concentrate, this STUPID HAIR falls in my way." He yelled, his fists full of light brown hair.  
  
"You'll get used to it. Eventually." Said Lark, trying to suppress a grin. "Let's try this again."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Er- um- Rosethorn?" said Harry hesitantly "um- this plant is- er- attacking me."  
  
"Be firm with it. Tell it to get off." Said Rosethorn, grinning at what looked like Briar getting tied up with a vine that was particularly fond of him.  
  
"Um- how?" Asked Harry, for all he knew, he might just accidentally get suffocated by this plant. Harry could somehow tell that the plant was just being naughty. Rosethorn didn't answer him.  
  
Harry thought for a moment, and then firmly willed the plant off of him. It didn't budge. Harry willed it more sternly still, until finally began to recede into the stem.  
  
"OK. Follow me." Said Rosethorn, leading him to a patch of plants that were growing slightly wildly over the edge of the patch of ground. "Now, weeding."  
  
"Er- okay." Harry had only weeded a few times in Aunt Petunia's patch of flowers, but those were muggle plants, he had no idea what would happen if he tried to weed like that. None of these plants were even close to the ones in the greenhouses at Hogwarts.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"We're going to start meditating today." Said Niko, sitting cross-legged on the floor and indicating for Hermione to do the same.  
  
"Okay," said Hermione, after she had sat down like Niko, "is this going to be hard? Do you have a book I could read on it?"  
  
"I do not have any books on meditation, and the difficulty varies from person to person. Breathe in, hold, and breathe out for counts seven, concentrate on your breathing, and try not to think about anything else."  
  
"How can I think of nothing?" asked Hermione, "there's too much to think about!"  
  
"Just try your best." Said Niko.  
  
Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath for a count of seven like Niko had said.  
  
She was doing quite well for three breaths before her thoughts began to wander. 'I wonder if we'll ever get back to Hogwarts.' Hermione thought helplessly.  
  
'Hermione! Can you PLEASE keep your thoughts to yourself!' Thought Ron. 'I'm TRYING to concentrate on my needlework!'  
  
Hermione burst out laughing at Ron's last comment. She was having a very hard time picturing Ron doing needlework.  
  
"What is the matter?" Asked Niko, startled at Hermione's sudden outburst.  
  
"Ron- n- needle- needlework! HA!" Choked Hermione.  
  
"Hmm- yes- well he'll get the hang of it sooner or later." Said Niko.  
  
"Alright," said Hermione, settling down, "What do I do again?"  
  
"Count to seven- in-and hold-now breath out." Niko's voice became softer and more distant. "Good, Tris, now feel for your magic. Calm it, collect it together inside you." Hermione could feel her magic gather inside her body.  
  
She gradually began to feel smoother and longer. She was moving very fast, and then slowly again. She was the wind. The wind/Hermione raced along the knolls and up hills. She could feel the unease of a thunderstorm coming closer to Winding Circle. With her magic, Hermione searched the air for water droplets and found them a few inches from where she/the wind was hovering. Finding them comforted her. She beckoned them toward her. Wrapping them around each other and herself, she formed a small cloud of water. Letting it go, again, they rushed to the ground as if in one large raindrop. Amazed, Hermione stretched out her magic to take hold of another handful of water, she felt someone calling her from a very long way off. Reluctant to leave Hermione slowly turned around and rushed back to her body.  
  
Feeling her stiff limbs cramping up Hermione could hear Niko's voice, now.  
  
"Hermione?" Niko's voice asked calmly, "Are you alright?"  
  
"Wow." Hermione whispered.  
  
"Good. Could you please move your rain cloud away from me?" Hermione's eyes popped open to take in a drenched Niko sitting in a rather large mud puddle beside her. Looking up Hermione noticed a small black cloud, hovering directly over their heads. Then glancing down at her own clothing, she realized that she was wet from head to toe and shivering slightly.  
  
"Uh- er- I guess I could try," said Hermione.  
  
Trying to collect her magic, Hermione shoved the little black cloud across the yard. Sighing, Niko thanked her saying he had to leave.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"I think I've got the hang of this!" Harry yelled to Rosethorn. She grinned at the section of garden she was weeding. Suddenly Harry yelled, "Get it off! I didn't mean to hurt it! Aaargh! Rosethorn! Help!"  
  
Rosethorn turned to look at Harry, who was struggling with a large plant that was stationed three feet from where he was supposed to be working.  
  
"Just say you are sorry, Harry." Rosethorn said.  
  
"S-s-sorry," stuttered Harry facing the attacking plant. "I d-didn't mean to bother you or-or anything like that."  
  
Rosethorn sighed. He was very new at this.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
AN:  
  
Sorry it took so long. And don't worry- Briar will be in the next chapter! Also sorry this chapter's so long. There was just sooo much to say! PLEASE R&R! REVIEWS ARE GOOD! (lol) 


	6. Qudditch and Cho

Sorry it took so long, I was very, very busy this week! Hope you like this chapter. I'll try to get more up next week (or as soon as enough reviews are left)  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Harry?"  
  
Briar turned around and saw a very pretty girl with long, black hair and almond shaped eyes. "What are you doing in the dungeons?" She asked curiously.  
  
"I was looking for the potions classroom."  
  
"But-it's Saturday!"  
  
"I need to find all of the classrooms so I know where they are for Monday."  
  
The girl looked at him with a very confused expression before shrugging. "Well, if you say so." After a brief and strange silence, she spoke again, "Er- I just wanted to-to say I'm-" she took a deep breath, "I'm really, really sorry about last year. I was awful! The crying, talking about Cedric in front of you, running away, getting mad about the stupidest things, I'm so sorry about everything! I didn't mean to make you feel worse! I was so selfish! And Marietta really wasn't that bad, at first! I didn't think she'd tell! Oh, Harry, I'm just really, really sorry!" By this time, the girl was sobbing uncontrollably into Briar's shoulder.  
  
"Uh- it-it's alright. R-really." Briar was stunned. One minute she was standing there, perfectly normal, the next, she was sobbing desperately about strange things he didn't know about-and didn't really want to know. What could she possibly have done that had been so bad? And what was he supposed to do now? He had never had to deal with a hysterical girl before- besides Tris, but that was different. It wasn't like he hadn't known girls his whole life, but this one was very different. She seemed to need quite a bit of help to keep herself under control. 'Oh, great,' Brair thought, 'just what I need: more to deal with.'  
  
"I d-didn't mean to!" She wailed loudly, "It wasn't my fault!"  
  
Suddenly Briar heard a cold voice, "Well, well, what's going on here?" Briar turned to face the man who had first called him Harry. "A little reunion? I would advise you both to go to your common rooms before you get into any mischief. But first I think, ten points from Ravenclaw, Ms. Chang, and the same from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter."  
  
"It's not her fault, sir. I was-was down here by myself, and she found me and was-" at this, the Chang girl wailed even louder, and the Potions master looked at her with disgust etched in every line of his pale face.  
  
"Fine, Chang, keep your points! But Potter, you just lost Gryffindor another ten points!" Opening his mouth at this unfair statement, Briar felt a jab in his ribs, and noticed that the crying had stopped and Chang was looking worried.  
  
"No, Harry," she whispered, "Don't do it! Just let it go," she grabbed Briar's hand, and began pulling him to the stairs. Without looking back, Briar began to sprint up the stairs, every second working to get as much distance between him and "that hook-nosed kaq", as Daja said, as possible.  
  
They kept running until they got to the Great Hall, where lunch was being served. When they were there, Briar stopped and looked at the girl. "Uh- sorry about that," he said.  
  
"It's okay," she said, smiling. Briar noticed that the girl's red-patched cheeks couldn't properly hide her pretty face. Especially when she was smiling.  
  
"Well, do you want to eat with us then, over here, on this table? It's where we had breakfast." He said, trying not to sound too clueless.  
  
"Sure," she replied in a giggly voice that was very different from that which she had used a few minutes earlier.  
  
Briar sat down next to Tris, and across from Sandry and Daja (who had come to sit at their table, accompanied by many rude stares).  
  
"Er, Harry, why is Malfoy over here?" The Chang girl asked, pointing at Daja. Daja, in turn, gave her an evil stare.  
  
"Well, that's not very nice!" Tris said, "It's not her fault she was turned into a boy!"  
  
"Tris," warned Sandry, "we weren't going to talk to anyone about that, remember?"  
  
"Fine!" Snapped Tris, fingering her wand. "But you best be nice from now on, you hear me?"  
  
The girl nodded mutely. Briar waved his hand at the seat to his left, and smiled at the Chang girl. She cautiously sat down, watching Tris very carefully.  
  
"Oh, don't worry, Tri-uh -Hermione isn't usually that snappy," Briar assured the black-haired girl. He noticed her face tighten up. He distinctly heard her mutter ''Darling' Hermione, isn't it?'  
  
"Sorry, Chang, what was that?" Briar asked  
"Chang? You know you can call me Cho, don't you Harry? You didn't have a problem last year."  
  
"Uh- right- Cho, that's what I meant," said Briar. Sandry choked into her bowl of soup. Quickly disguising it as a cough, she snatched a napkin and turned away from the table. Daja smiled kindly at Cho and offered her the rolls. Cho, in turn, gave Daja a disbelieving glance, as she slowly accepted the basket. She inspected it quickly, before taking one and passing it to Briar.  
  
"Why does everyone do that?" Asked Daja, annoyed.  
  
"Do what?" Asked Cho.  
  
"Act like I'm evil, like I've done something very cruel that I don't have a clue about." Answered Daja.  
  
"Well," said Cho, "you haven't exactly been kind to Harry the last five years, Malfoy."  
  
"Of course she- uh I mean to say he- has," said Briar, the other three nodded in agreement.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sandry and Briar were sitting in the common room, talking about the recent strange happenings, when a girl with dark, braided hair walked up to them.  
  
"Come ON! Hurry up and change into your quidditch robes, I have told you a million times that we have quidditch practice today, in about five minutes!" She said, looking at her watch impatiently.  
  
"Er- okay" said Briar uncertainly, then, glancing at the stairway leading to the boy's dormitory he added, "Um- what do my quidditch robes look like again?"  
  
"Oh for gods sake, Harry! They told me you hit your head, but you should at least know which robes to wear!" Said the dark-haired girl accusingly.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~* ^_^ (AN- Aragorn was here) ^_^ *~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"So, what do you suppose we'll be doing?" asked Sandry after they had successfully changed into their quidditch robes and were walking down to the field, holding a broomstick each, with the dark-haired girl well ahead of them, "Ginny told me about quidditch, but I didn't know I'd actually get to play it! I wonder which position I'll be playing. Ginny said that you play as a Seeker."  
  
"That's the one where you have to fly on a boom and try to catch a small golden ball with wings, right?" Asked Briar, "That doesn't seem too hard."  
  
The dark-haired girl set down a chest that she had carried with her on the grass in front of them. She opened it and pulled out the largest, scarlet-colored ball and turned to Sandry. "What are you waiting for? Fly up and guard the hoops!"  
  
"Um, how do I do this?"  
  
"You both hit your heads? Oh my gosh, we will never get the Quidditch Cup!" she said, "Alright, then, just mount your broom and fly over there."  
  
"F-F-Fly? We have to fly? Now? I don't know how!" Sandry squealed.  
  
The girl sighed, "Like this." She grabbed her broom roughly and swung one leg over it. The next second, Briar realized she was in the air and soaring in the direction of three of the immense hoops standing at one end of the field. The girl pressed the left side of her broom and made a large, slow arc. She landed next to Sandry and said, "Now it's your turn. Just grab the broom like I did. It knows what to do."  
  
"Er- okay." Said Sandry hesitantly before swinging her own leg over the broom and closing her eyes tightly.  
  
"Well, you have to lift the tip upwards, and kick off!" Groaned the tall girl.  
  
Briar turned to the dark-haired girl. "What's your name, then?"  
  
"Katie Bell," began the dark-haired girl, but she was interrupted.  
  
"AAAAAAAARGHH!!" Sandry was flying full speed up the field, trying to steer away from the goalposts to avoid collision. "Aargh! HOW DO I SLOW DOWN??!!"  
  
"Oh, no," moaned Katie before mounting her broom again and zooming after Sandry.  
  
Briar stared after her. He could now see her flying alongside Sandry and shouting instructions to her that Briar couldn't hear. Finally Sandry slowed down and ungracefully came to a halt, landing jerkily and shaking from red-haired head to foot.  
  
By the time she got back to where Briar was still standing, open- mouthed, she was smiling in a scared sort of way. "Briar, you should TRY that, it is so much FUN!!"  
  
"Er- okay." Briar first made sure that he had a thorough understanding of how to fly from Katie before finally mounting his broom and kicking off.  
  
His heart gave a huge leap; flying was thrilling and fun and downright scary all at the same time. Yet this didn't seem very hard at all. It was hardly like riding a horse, but somehow, he already knew what to do.  
  
He made a small loop, steered upwards, flew up twenty, thirty, forty, fifty feet in the air, and took a chance at diving. He soared downward with the wind whistling in his ears as he gathered more and more speed. He was sinking to the earth twice as fast as he'd ever moved before. Only ten, eight, five feet from the ground!  
  
He jerked up on the handle and came smoothly level with the ground. "Wow."  
  
"I see you aren't going to need any help flying, Harry, just like before. You really are a natural!" Katie exclaimed after he had landed next to her, then she added, "I'll let the snitch out now, you'll probably catch it right away, so give it a head start before you look for it."  
  
"Okay," said Briar, "That doesn't seem that hard."  
  
"It isn't hard, for you." She said, and then turned, again, to Sandry, "all you have to do, is block the quaffle from getting through those hoops." She pointed to the goalposts at the far end of the field. "I am going to spell the quaffle to fly at you, alright? It will fly at the hoops repeatedly until you block it five times in a row."  
  
"Alright," said Sandry, "Will you give me a minute to get into the air?"  
  
"Sure, but hurry we don't have all night." Katie replied.  
  
(AN- since the italics aren't reliable, I've underlined the emphasized words)  
  
After a while of intense goal blocking and snitch catching, they retired to a delicious Hogwarts supper.  
  
"Wow," said Sandry, looking at Briar with amazement, "you were certainly very good at being a Seeker for the first time in your life!"  
  
"Well you were good too!" Briar attempted, but failed.  
  
"I only saved TWO GOALS!"  
  
"Well, it was your first time."  
  
"You caught the snitch Twenty-three times!"  
  
"So?"  
  
"SO, THAT'S A LOT OF TIMES!" Screamed Sandry. Everyone within 100 feet turned to stare at the two of them. Sandry's ears turned bright scarlet.  
  
"I think everyone heard you," Briar whispered wickedly in Sandry's ear.  
  
"Why you-- why you vile, ignorant-- I should-- oh, you've been around Rosethorn too long, you horrid boy!" Sandry hissed back, her blush deepening.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"If you can't figure out which plants to pull up, and which ones to leave in the ground, I'LL HANG YOU IN THE WELL BY YOUR ANKLES!!!" Yelled Rosethorn as Harry pulled up what he had thought to be an overlarge weed.  
  
"S-sorry, Rosethorn, I- er- I didn't mean to. I've never done this before." Harry would rather have been anywhere but there. He looked dejectedly at the plant he had been yanking up roughly. "Could I- er- please go help Ron with something. Needlework? Anything?" Adding in his head 'anything but this!'  
  
Rosethorn took a deep breath. "No," she bellowed flatly.  
  
"Come on, please?" Begged Harry, desperately.  
  
"Just finish this section of the garden, Briar- wait, that's not right is it? What was your name, boy?" Said Rosethorn.  
  
"Er- Harry. Are you positive I can't go help Ron? I bet I am better at needle work than he is." The look on Rosethorn's face silenced Harry that very instant.  
  
Rosethorn sighed, "Well, we could work on those medicines the healers wanted instead."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~ ^_^ (Alanna was here) ^_^ ~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Hey Lark, I think I have the hang of this!" Ron yelled joyfully. Lark looked up from her sewing to look at Sandry's body. Earlier Lark had tied Sandry's hair behind her head to satisfy the new person inside it.  
  
"That's good, Ron, keep working like that and you'll be fine." She said, encouragingly. Ron grinned at himself and returned to his sewing.  
  
A few minutes later Ron heard Harry inside his head. 'Aargh, she's going to KILL me!'  
  
'What happened?' Asked Ron, closing his eyes. When he opened them, he had looked though Harry's eyes accidentally and saw Rosethorn shouting at where he was standing.  
  
'Sh-she really is g-gonna kill me this time!'  
  
'She looks like she's going to bite you. Whatever you did, she's really mad.'  
  
'I- I added the wrong kind of leaves! Th-they looked exactly the same!'  
  
'At least you aren't stuck with needlework' Ron thought back.  
  
'Good, she went back to her work.' Sighed Harry.  
  
Ron smirked and turned back to his disgusting tangle of threads that had accumulated while his mind had wandered. "Oops."  
  
"Just fix it and try again, it's okay." Said Lark kindly.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
All of a sudden, Ron looked out the window to see Rosethorn strangling Harry! (AN- just kidding! Ignore that sentence)  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Please R&R!!! Next chapter goes up when more reviews go up! All I'm askin is 10 reviews, please! (Hannah, don't you dare, or I'll send my big black shaggy dog after you! Grr! Grr!) 


	7. Hairy decisions

AN- there is a lot of yelling and screaming in this story, isn't there?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Apparently, Malfoy had had a bad night. He was sitting at the table with a glum look on his face. His hair was extremely tangled and all over his face. He was even too grumpy to yell at Harry and Hermione (Ron was still in his room).  
  
Lark came in to the kitchen, carrying a spindle. She paused for a moment, looking at Malfoy.  
  
"Aren't you going to comb your hair, Daja- I mean Draco?" Asked Lark.  
  
"No." said Malfoy through gritted teeth, "I already tried. It didn't work. I've never been a girl before."  
  
"Well," said Hermione slowly, "I am doing fine. This hair is so easy to work with- compared to-"  
  
Malfoy looked so evilly at Tris' body at this point, that Hermione stopped talking mid-sentence. Then getting over her silence, she said "Well, Malfoy, I could help you if you asked for it- I AM an expert on the matter."  
  
Growling, Malfoy stormed back up to his room to try again. All the way thinking, 'Stupid girls always think they know everything there is to know. I'll bet this is ten times worse than anything SHE has had to deal with before!'  
  
Shaking her head, Hermione turned back to Harry and shrugged.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
It looked as though Ron was having trouble with his hair as well. He had stayed in his room for half an hour trying to figure it out. He had at least managed to brush it fairly well, but they kept hearing shouts of pain as Ron pulled through the snarls, and he had no idea what to do with the hair next.  
  
When at last he came down into the kitchen, Harry burst out laughing and Hermione walked concernedly over and kindly helped Ron tie the hair back.  
  
'The things these boys managed to do with their- well, I wouldn't really call it 'their' hair.' She thought, 'I am glad I had so much practice with my own hair.'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*^_^ (AN- Frodo was here) ^_^*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Aargh," Tris came running down the stairway leading to the girls' dormitory with a hairbrush tangled in her bushy, very messy, brown hair. She yanked at it repeatedly, but it would not come loose.  
  
"Lemme try it, Tris," said Briar. He walked up to her, and wiggled the brush. It stayed firmly in place. He pulled harder. Nothing. Finally he gave an almighty pull. All he accomplished was Tris' wails to increase.  
  
"S-Sandry!" yelled Tris, her eyes watering, "It won't come out!"  
  
"Um," said Sandry, "I'll try to get it out, hold still."  
  
Tris sat in the chair next to Sandry, who examined the tangle. It would take hair-by-hair untangling to get this brush out. She carefully began to work the brush free.  
  
"T-this is even worse than MY hair! This is awful!" Wailed Tris.  
  
'That's saying something,' thought Briar, and then he sniggered. At least he didn't have to worry about that.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
After Briar, Tris, and Sandry were finished getting ready Sunday morning, they went down to breakfast (as usual, among plenty of unwelcome stares) and met Daja. When they were finished eating, they left for the library (which Neville had showed them the day before) to read up on the world they were in, for it was plain to them they had gone to a different time in history, even if it WAS the same world.  
  
"Wow," said Sandry, Showing Daja a page in a book, "can you believe that that wizard was so evil? He killed hundreds of people."  
  
"What was his name?" Asked Daja, leaning over to get a better look.  
  
"Funny, it doesn't say his name. It just says He-who-must-not-be-named. Maybe it says his name in here somewhere." Sandry replied.  
  
After a few minutes of searching through the book, they finally found the dark wizard's name, along with some other information.  
  
"So, Harry Potter defeated Voldemort when he was one year old?" Asked Tris skeptically.  
  
"That's what it says in the book." Answered Sandry, scratching her head.  
  
"That's what everyone calls me," said Briar, looking up from his book on magical plants, "Harry Potter."  
  
"Well, if you're in Harry Potter's body, then where is Harry Potter and what happened to your body?" Wondered Daja aloud.  
  
"Um- good question."  
  
"What if Harry Potter has your body," said Sandry, "and what if our bodies are taken over by these people?" She pointed to Daja, Tris, and herself.  
  
"I just hope they don't do anything stupid with us."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"This is stupid!" Screamed Hermione. "We've been at this for hours and you three," she glared at Harry, Ron, and Malfoy with an equally menacing look, "can't even do this easy task!"  
  
"The only person who would call this easy is you!" Growled Malfoy.  
  
"Why don't we ask those adults? They seem nice enough." Said Harry  
  
"We can't ask those adults, they don't know what we need, they don't know what we did wrong, and they don't know where to find the right ingredients." Answered Hermione.  
  
"None of THESE ingredients are the ones we need to make another sleeping potion," said a very frustrated Ron, "and we don't even know everything that Malfoy did to mess it up!"  
  
'For the millionth time, it wasn't my fault!' Thought Malfoy angrily.  
  
'Then what, may I ask, went wrong?' Ron thought back.  
  
'How am I supposed to know, Weasly? I DIDN'T DO IT!'  
  
'SHUT UP!' thought Hermione, 'we aren't accomplishing anything by thinking rudely to each other.'  
  
"We aren't accomplishing anything anyway!" Harry said aloud.  
  
"Well, maybe we should reconsider. We might do something that could mess up these people's bodies," said Hermione, "and speaking of that, I will bet almost anything that those people have our bodies."  
  
"You mean to tell me that a GIRL has my body?" Malfoy asked irritably.  
  
"Well, yes."  
  
"Oh no!" Ron said miserably, "A girl has my body too?"  
  
"Well, maybe you're better off to have a girl in your body." Said Hermione with a half glance at Ron.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Who did you say the headmaster was?" Asked Sandry reasonably.  
  
"Er-Professor Dumbledore." Replied Ginny.  
  
"And how often would we get to talk to him?" Asked Sandry.  
  
"Er- not very often, Ron." Said Ginny.  
  
"Well, then, how do I." Sandry paused, "Ginny, I really need to talk to him! This really smart head person (Bumble door did you say?) he may be the only person who can help us."  
  
"Ron, I think Madam Pomfrey can help you more than Dumbledore, at this point," said Ginny.  
  
"There is NOTHING wrong with me!" Yelled Sandry, "We just need to talk to him."  
  
Briar nodded in agreement, "It would be really helpful for you to just tell us where to find him." Ginny blushed slightly. "If you don't help us, Ginny, we'll have to go ask a teacher."  
  
But at that moment, Briar looked up to see Tris bursting through the portrait hole. "Th-th-the- l-library!" She panted, "S-some-one wants t- to talk t-to you, B-Briar! He has a r-really long beard, and only half- glasses! He said something about that scary wizard Vodleymort we read about in the library."  
  
Stunned Briar stood up, Ginny and Sandry right behind him. "That's Professor Dumbledore!" Exclaimed Ginny, "There must be something really, really wrong!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Thax 4 the reviewz! Sorry it took so long to put this up, but I stuck to my word! Okay, The next chapter will be up within two weeks (hopefully sooner) I've got a great plan 4 what will happen next. REVIEWZ ROCK! (lol) 


	8. Cryptic meetings

Nice next chapter coming. No the story isn't coming to an end quite yet, but it may seem like it! (Hehehe- you'll find out what I mean!)  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"So, you can get us back?" Asked Briar hopefully. They were in the library, talking to Professor Dumbledore. He seemed to know almost exactly what had happened, after they had explained the more general information.  
  
"Well, Briar, I do believe that something in your world will help you get back to yourselves." Said Dumbledore, "But I cannot return you to your bodies, you will have to figure that out on your own. All I can do is send you to your world so you can meet Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco. In order to sort this out, you will need to work together."  
  
"Work with kaqs we don't even know?" asked Daja, who they had met in the corridor along the way to the library.  
  
"Yes, you will need to work as a team to correct this problem." Dumbledore answered with the slightest bit of humor dancing in his eyes.  
  
"How are we going to get there?" Asked Tris apprehensively.  
  
"I have discovered a potion that will transport you to this other world. I must warn you, however, that should you meet anyone who you don't know, do not trust them- they may be one of Voldemort's spies. New information has informed me that Voldemort's new plan of action includes ancient magic that is so powerful that it can do remarkable things, yet not be detected." Dumbledore replied.  
  
"Oh, I get it, Voldemort is gonna get rid of Harry Potter, 'cause, you know, he defeated Voldemort." Said Briar.  
  
"Yes, you four do catch on rather quickly." Replied Dumbledore, "Usually I have to clarify things to other students much more than this." (AN- meaning Harry, lol)  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Well, I don't know what to do," sighed Hermione, "I've run out of ideas. None of the ones I came up with before would work."  
  
"All I've accomplished is an awful headache!" declared Harry.  
  
"We're done for," said Ron, "I mean, if Hermione is out of ideas then none of us will be able to think of any."  
  
"Yeah, you're right, Ron, it's hopeless." Said Harry.  
  
"Well, I'm glad I'VE had a lot of input in this!" yelled Draco sarcastically, "I think the first thing we should do is-" but Ron cut him off.  
  
"Uh, Harry?" Ron said quickly, tapping him on the shoulder, "Er, it's us."  
  
"What?" Asked Harry grumpily, rubbing his head.  
  
"LOOK!" Hermione was pointing to four people sprawled on the floor. It was their bodies! Harry's mouth dropped open.  
  
"Hey we're back!" Said one of them enthusiastically, standing up. It was the person in Malfoy's body.  
  
"HEY THAT'S US!" yelled the person in Hermione's body, then she spoke to them, "Who are you?"  
  
"Er," said Ron, "Uh- Er- Um, we- we're."  
  
"Great, my body gets the one that's got a speaking problem!" Said Ron's body moodily.  
  
"Hey! I have not! I'm just-" said Ron.  
  
"He's just a little surprised to see his own body in a strange world we've NEVER SEEN BEFORE talking to himself in a DIFFERENT BODY!" said Harry, rather rudely.  
  
"Great, mine has a temper," said the person in Harry's body, then to Harry he said, "You didn't hurt any plants did you?"  
  
"I didn't mean to!" replied Harry indignantly.  
  
"Did you take any of our lessons? Did we learn anything new? Were the-"  
  
"Hermione! Will you stop making my head hurt for a minute, for a change?" interrupted Ron. (AN: Yes, he DOES have a horrid headache too, can you tell by his grammar?)  
  
"Oh, no, he CAN talk." Said Ron's body, "And what in Mithros' name did you do to my hair?"  
  
"Nothing," mumbled Ron, "I just tried to brush it, is all."  
  
"Well, next time, DON'T!"  
  
"Alright let's just sit down and think for a minute. First let's get everyone's name." As the others made to follow Hermione's sudden orders, Malfoy spoke up.  
  
"And who put you in charge, mudblood? I don't want to sit down!"  
  
"Oh, NOW I know why no one liked him!" Said Malfoy's body.  
  
Giving her an evil glare, Draco sat down. All of a sudden, everyone (except Draco) began pulling off his or her metal jewelry, hairpins, belt buckles, and watches hurriedly. "Ouch, it's HOT!" Squealed Hermione.  
  
Malfoy's body gave him a concerned look and said, "Careful what you do, you might burn someone!"  
  
"So," he replied, "'s not like I care!"  
  
Hermione's body put her hands on her hips. "Now you sound like Briar when he first came to Discipline."  
  
"Hey! I wasn't that bad!"  
  
"Briar! Settle down, we need to figure this out," said the person in Ron's body. "Alright, first thing, I am Lady Sandrilene fa Toren, daughter or Count Mattin fer Toren and his countess, Amiliane fa Landreg, and the great-niece of his grace, Duke Vedris of this relm of Emelan, and cousin of her Imperial Highness, Empress Berenene of the Namorn Empire. I work with thread magic." and then to Ron she said, "I take it you are Ronald Weasley?"  
  
Ron nodded, slightly confused.  
  
Ron's body (or should I say Sandry) continued, pointing at Harry's body, "This is Briar Moss, he was a street rat, who Niko found and we tamed." Briar glared at her. "His magic is that of plants." Pointing at Draco Malfoy's body she continued, "This is Daja Kisubo of Third Ship Kisubo. She is a metal mage." ("And a trader!" said Daja proudly) Finally, Sandry pointed at Hermione's body and said, "and lastly, this is Trisana Chandler. She is a weather mage. Don't ever get her into a temper- at least not in her own body."  
  
"Okay," said the girl in Tris' body, "I am Hermione Granger, daughter of two dentists who are mug- uh- non-magical people." She then pointed to Harry, "This is Harry Potter, survivor of Lord Voldemort," (Ron flinched) "and son to Lily and James Potter." She jabbed a thumb at Ron, saying, "This is Ron Weasley, (WHO CAN'T STAND TO HEAR VOLDEMORT'S NAME!) son of Molly and Arthur Weasley. He has-" she paused, thinking, "seven brothers, and one sister. And he's a pure-blood." She glared at Malfoy before pointing to him and saying, "This is Draco Malfoy, son of Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. And he's a complete Idiot and a right pain in the neck."  
  
"I would have to say that YOU three are the pains in the neck." Malfoy argued.  
  
"Alright, alright!" Said Sandry, "We need to be working together on this, so we can get back to our own bodies, and then get you four back to your own world."  
  
"Dumbledore said that is what we had to do," agreed Briar, "He also said to watch out for anyone we don't know- or you don't know (they might be Voldemort's spies)!"  
  
"Death eaters," said Harry automatically.  
  
"Um, if you say so, Harry Potter," said Briar.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Wrote this chapter in less than one day, I did! So I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter will wait for 15 good reviews (constructive criticism plz) or until we finish it (which ever comes second). 


	9. The Dragon and the Storm

Thanks for all the reviews! Sorry it took so long to put up this chappy. We (editors and me) were looking over it. Sorry for any missed mistakes! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"NO, OVER, not UNDER." Said Sandry, trying to show Ron how to tie a simple knot while adding magic to it.  
  
"Okay.there!" said Ron, tightening the knot carefully.  
  
"Good, you tied the knot, but you didn't put magic INTO it." Said Sandry, looking at the silvery strand-like magic spilling from her hands (which she was no longer in possession of) and onto the floor.  
  
"What are you looking at?" asked Ron, following her gaze to the floor beside him where he saw nothing but the smoothed wood.  
  
"I'm looking at your- well, really MY magic. And by the way, you're letting it leak all over the place."  
  
"But, I don't see magic."  
  
"It's a mental thing. I can still see it because I still have my mind," said Sandry, handing Ron a new piece of thread that hadn't been knotted in many places, "now try it again and PUT YOUR MAGIC INTO IT."  
  
"Hello San- uh- Ron," said Lark's voice form the doorway, and then looking at Ron's body, she said, "Who are you?"  
  
"Hello Lark! It's me! Sandry!"  
  
"Oh, I see." Said Lark kindly, barely hiding a grin.  
  
"And thank you for showing up," Sandry indicated Ron, who was still trying what Sandry had told him to, without success, "he's hopeless."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"I'm back Rosethorn!" Said Briar, coming up to her with Harry close behind.  
  
"Are you Briar?" she said skeptically, and when he nodded, she asked, "Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes. I am definitely sure it's me."  
  
"So. you are Briar. in Harry's body- and this is Harry? In your body?" Rosethorn glanced at Harry, "Mila, this is confusing!"  
  
Harry and Briar (in each other's body) grinned.  
  
"Alright, this is good!" Said Rosethorn, evilly, "I get TWO people to help me weed the gardens!"  
  
"Um, Rosethorn, I don't think Harry is going to be very good at that!" Said Briar.  
  
"I know that, Briar, which is why I'm leaving you in charge of him."  
  
"Rosethorn." said Briar  
  
"Alright, fine! You can both work on burn salve."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Since I know a lot more than you do about metalwork," said Daja beckoning Draco into the smithy, "and YOU have MY magic, I will be instructing you, and you will be making nails."  
  
Frostpine's voice sounded from the other room, "Good idea! We're out of those! Wait. Daja?"  
  
Daja led Draco into the room where Frostpine's voice came from, "Hi Frostpine!"  
  
Frostpine looked from Daja to Draco and back. "Daja?" he asked Draco in Daja's body.  
  
"No." Said Draco gruffly.  
  
Frostpine turned to Daja in Draco's Body, "Daja!"  
  
"Yes. Hello Frostpine!"  
  
Draco looked at Frostpine and wondered if he should say anything to him, but was spared from deciding when Daja pulled Draco, once again, into the first room. "Grab that pole and put it in the fire." She ordered, pointing to a pole shining orange in the firelight. Draco wasn't sure of its color because of the dim lighting in the smithy, but for some very odd reason, he had a feeling it was a mixture of copper and iron, making bronze.  
  
'Why do I know this is bronze, I've never known metals, let alone their combinations.' Draco thought, getting a rude answer from Ron.  
  
'Malfoy, SHUT UP I'm trying to concentrate- DARN IT!'  
  
Reluctantly, Draco picked up the bronze pole and hesitated before the fire, remembering the last time he had put his hands in the fire. He rolled up his sleeves.  
  
"What are you doing?" asked Daja, eyeing Draco, for she would never have bothered with something like that.  
  
Draco chose to ignore her and carefully stuck his brown arms into the flames and set the pole down between them.  
  
After a while, once she had Draco working on nails, Daja went to work on something in which she wouldn't get her hands burned off.  
  
"Malfoy- uh- what should I call you? Draco- (that means dragon, did you know?).interesting. Anyway, Dragon, you haven't worked for your whole life, am I right? Because your hands are really tender. You should do more WORK." Daja criticized, running her sooty fingers through her now blonde hair. Draco cringed.  
  
Coming over to investigate his work, she said, "Not as bad as I thought you would be, Dragon, but you still need to improve." Forgetting that it was burning hot, she picked up a piece of bronze and quickly dropped it again in pain.  
  
"Hey," said Draco, "You burned my hand!"  
  
Examining the searing fingers, Daja said, "Yes, I did. Well, sorry."  
  
Draco leaned over and grabbed his hand, "Look, its all red and blistery!"  
  
"Oh, stop complaining, Dragon!" Said Daja, pulling her hand away. "The burn won't even be noticeable after I get some of Briar's ointment on it! And the blisters will toughen your hands, you need it!!"  
  
Grumbling, Draco turned back to his work and began to ignore Daja completely, thinking that he'd rather have spent the whole day sewing than making stupid nails.  
  
'No you wouldn't, Malfoy! I'd trade with you if you'd like. I'd much rather be doing, whatever you are doing than SEWING!" Ron thought the last word with such disgust, that Draco thought he could taste the bitterness.  
  
Coughing, Draco realized that he had been leaning over the red-hot nails, and his shirt had started to smoke. Yelping, he jumped back, calling to no one in particular that he was going outside to get some air. He ran to the well just across the yard, and pulled up a bucket. Without thinking he dumped the whole thing over himself. "Ahh! Cold!! ICE!!!"  
  
Running back into the smithy, he shoved his head and hands into the forge fire. "What are you doing, you stupid kaq? There's work to be done!"  
  
As Draco pulled his head out, Daja realized he had stuck his head in the ashes, and his face was covered with soot and dirt. "Dragon, you know you are going to have to take an extremely long bath tonight, right?" She said. "That soot won't come out easily."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Tris was trying to teach Hermione the basics of weather magic, while on Winding Circle's wall, when they found themselves with a problem. Hermione was making a rather large group of clouds accumulate overhead due to Tris's instructions, which she had thought had been perfectly formulated.  
  
"Uh, Hermione, I think you are doing something wrong," said Tris warily, as the storm clouds flashed eagerly. "You are just supposed to think about the storm, and LEAVE IT WHERE IT WAS!"  
  
Hermione jumped at Tris' sudden temper flare. "I know, I'm not even using my- er, sorry, your- magic. I'm keeping it inside the circle you drew before I came."  
  
Suddenly Tris jumped up and gripped the hair on her head (Hermione's bushy brown hair) in frustration  
  
"Oh, no! Oh, dear!" Said Tris, "That's what I forgot to do! This is bad this is really, really bad. We have to find Niko right now!"  
  
"Niko?" asked Hermione, "Is he the one who is always about, telling Harry and Malfoy not to hurt each other?"  
  
"Well, probably, but that's not very important right now." Tris closed her eyes for a moment. "Oh, yeah, I forgot, I can't think to anyone!" She said, looking extremely downcast. "You'll just have to call someone." Seeing Hermione's confused look, she said, "Just think out loud in your head. Someone will hear it."  
  
So Hermione thought, 'Harry, Ron, have you seen Niko anywhere?'  
  
'No,' thought Harry, 'why do you ask?'  
  
'Because we- er- REALLY need him.' Hermione thought back desperately. 'Ron, what about you?'  
  
'No, I haven't seen him since yesterday.'  
  
Hermione was now quite desperate, 'Uh- Malfoy, do YOU know where Niko is? Have you seen him?'  
  
'I don't know.' Malfoy thought angrily and Hermione wondered if she might possibly have disturbed his work in the smithy.  
  
'Well, if you know, just TELL ME!' Thought Hermione.  
  
'FINE, I think I might have seen him on his way up to that wall.'  
  
Hermione pulled her mind back to Tris and said, "He's on his way here."  
  
"Good," said Tris with relief.  
  
"I take it I am needed?" said a voice from behind Hermione. Niko was looking up at the sky where many gray clouds were forming.  
  
Hermione, too, was watching the clouds as a bolt of strong lightning zinged to the ground. But just as it was about to fade, it split neatly into three equal sections and pulled itself straight.  
  
Slowly, the lightning began to fold itself over repeatedly, making a braid. Hermione was astonished. Vaguely, she thought that the only person who would braid that slowly would be an inexperienced person. Like Ron. RON!  
  
'Ron, what are you DOING?' Hermione thought directly towards Ron.  
  
'Sandry told me to make a braid, and that's what I'm doing,' thought Ron back, 'why?'  
  
'What were you thinking about?' asked Hermione urgently.  
  
'Uh- it was so quiet, and then I heard thunder- and I guess I was thinking about lightning.'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Alright, FINE," Ron's own voice (Sandry), sounded frustrated to Ron, "you can just do a simple- REALLY simple braid then."  
  
"I'll try." Said Ron, also frustrated.  
  
Sandry quickly showed him the easy steps, "Also, remember to put magic into it."  
  
She fell silent and Ron closed his eyes and tried to force the magic carefully into the braid. It was so quiet. That was probably a good thing. But the strangest thing, thunder, interrupted that thought. For some reason, it didn't startle him, so he kept on braiding, thinking of the rather abrupt lightning.  
  
Moments later, Hermione's voice sounded once again in Ron's head, as it had only minutes before, 'Ron, what are you DOING?'  
  
Ron answered, confused, 'Sandry told me to make a braid, and that's what I'm doing, why?'  
  
'What were you thinking about?' asked Hermione.  
  
What an odd question. Ron gave it some thought before answering, 'Uh- it was so quiet, and then I heard thunder- and I guess I was thinking about lightning. Why?'  
  
Hermione then answered, 'look out the window.'  
  
Ron obeyed, standing up and peering outside. It was the strangest sight. A piece of lightning, halfway braided, sat in the middle of the sky.  
  
"Er, did I do that?" Ron asked Sandry, who was looking over his shoulder.  
  
"Yes, I think you did." She answered.  
  
"Well, should I, er, un-braid it, then?" Asked Ron.  
  
'Yes!' thought Hermione, loudly, 'I'm trying to control the storm, but it is going to be difficult if your magic is braided into it!'  
  
'Alright!' Ron yelled (out loud and to Hermione)  
  
"Hermione said to unbraid it," Ron told his own confused face, Sandry was obviously not expecting him to snap at her.  
  
"Ask her to get into your head, it will be much easier to work with her storm, if she helps."  
  
'Hermione, Sandry said to-' Ron started  
  
'I know what she said, I was listening in your ears,' interrupted Hermione.  
  
'You were what?!'  
  
'Are you two alright?' thought Harry.  
  
'No,' and, 'Yes!' were thought at the same time back to Harry.  
  
'Will you three stop that? I am trying to concentrate on making these nails,' thought Malfoy.  
  
'No, we won't stop.' Answered Hermione. 'Ron, keep thinking about the lightning and UNBRAID IT!'  
  
Ron carefully unwound the white strands until it was only three strings tied together at the top with a neat knot while thinking as much as possible about the lightning.  
  
'Did it work?' he wondered.  
  
'Yes! Thank you!' Hermione said, relieved.  
  
"Alright, then," said Sandry, "Maybe we better start out with no magic, come to think of it, you should probably be doing meditation first."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
R&R!!!!!!!!!!! 


	10. An Interesting Twist

An excellent chapter, if I do say so myself. Sorry for being brief, but we decided to leave a little cliff.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Draco sneezed, 'There must be something in the smell of the forge that I'm allergic to,' he thought.  
  
"So go outside and take a breather," said Daja out loud.  
  
"Am I allowed to do that?" Draco asked.  
  
"Only if I let you." Said Daja  
  
"Go ahead!" Frostpine yelled from the other side of the room, "You've done enough work for today."  
  
Frowning, Daja walked to Frostpine, and whispered "I like being in charge of him, he," Daja paused looking at Draco who was wiping off his sooty, brown hands on his breeches, "well, someone had to teach him a lesson."  
  
"Bye," said Draco in a loud voice, "I am going outside now!"  
  
"Hold on, I'm coming!" Daja replied hastily.  
  
Quickly she strode toward the door and grabbed Draco's hand, thinking, 'This Dragon is more trouble than he's worth.'  
  
"Dragon?!" said Draco angrily, "Just because my name means dragon."  
  
"Wait a minute, you heard my thoughts?" asked Daja.  
  
"Well you heard my thoughts," said Draco, "when I said I was allergic to something in the forge."  
  
"You were thinking that?"  
  
"Yes, and I think it was quite rude too, listening in on my thoughts."  
  
"You care about being rude?!" laughed Daja, thinking about Harry, Ron, Hermione and the other Hogwarts students who had such an intense hatred for Mr. Dragon Malfoy, "And, besides, I didn't mean to listen in!"  
  
"Well you did," said Draco grumpily.  
  
"Wait," said Daja, suddenly remembering how Briar, Sandry, Tris, and herself could think to the teachers by touching another teacher. She wondered if it would work for these people. "Come here, Dragon."  
  
Draco sighed and did as she said. "What?" He asked complainingly. (AN- that IS a word, by the way, I looked it up.)  
  
"Just stand still." Daja put her hand on Draco's (her own) arm and thought to the girl Hermione, 'Hermione? Can you hear me?'  
  
'Yes.um.Daja? Is that right?' Hermione asked.  
  
'Yes, I can think to Dragon also.' Daja answered.  
  
'How come I can hear you, too?' Hermione wondered.  
  
'I can think to you because I'm touching Dragon's- well, really, MY- arm.'  
  
(AN- sudden POV change) 'Oh, okay.' Said Hermione, thinking that the she and the others could probably do the same.  
  
Hermione turned back to Tris, thinking.  
  
"Tris? Can I try something?" Tris usually wasn't as rude to Hermione as she was to the others, probably because she wanted to be nice to the person who was in charge of her body at the moment. Besides, Tris was in a good mood, so Hermione figured that the other girl would let her.  
  
Tris looked sideways at Hermione, "Yes, alright then."  
  
Hermione put her hand on Tris's arm and did the same as Daja, thinking to Sandry, 'Sandry? Can you hear me?'  
  
'Yes. Hi, Hermione! I didn't know you could think to us too!'  
  
'Neither did I, until a few minutes ago. The only way it'll work is if you're touching someone from our world,' Hermione answered, 'I'm touching Tris's arm right now. You can also think to Ron, because Daja said that she could think to Malfoy, and vice versa.'  
  
'Wonderful, now I'm a communication devise.' Draco thought irritably  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Later that evening, Ron was meditating as best he could in a strange room that Sandry had said was part of the Hub ('What on Earth does that mean?' Ron had wondered, and Sandry had sighed deeply and not answered). Now Ron was simply trying to concentrate on the breathing. 'Breathe in 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. wait too high- And Breathe out- 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. er 8? No I think it was only to seven.'  
  
As Ron struggled with the counting, Sandry practiced her weaving, pricking Ron's inexperienced fingers a number of times. She held her breath so she wouldn't disturb Ron with her loud, ragged breathing ('Not that Ron's is any better,' she thought). Ron didn't hear her, he was too busy trying to wind himself into a long piece of thread, like Sandry had told him to do.  
  
'Sandry, I need you to come to Discipline immediately. Find Niko.' Lark's voice sounded in Sandry's head. Without taking time to ponder how in Mithros' name Lark was communicating with her, Sandry stood up, grabbed Ron's arm, and began to haul him toward the staircase.  
  
"Where are we going?" Ron asked suddenly, "I was just getting the hang of it!"  
  
"We're going to Discipline to see Niko. Lark called me just now," when Ron gave her a perplexed look she added, "I don't know how she could think to me, this is just all too strange. I assume she was touching Tris and Hermione, or Briar and Harry, or Daja and Dragon, or something of the sort, but I'm just not sure."  
  
Pulling harder at Ron's arm she said, "Come on, let's hurry, it sounded really urgent!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Harry stood up when Briar grabbed his arm. They were sitting on the wall overlooking the Bay. "What's wrong?" he asked Briar "Where are we going?"  
  
"Look, there are Ron and Sandry, they're probably going to Discipline too," seeing Harry's confused look he added, "Rosethorn just popped in my head and told me to find Niko there."  
  
Once they got off the wall, Sandry and Ron were close by. Inside his head, Ron called Harry. 'What on Earth is going on?'  
  
'I dunno, but Briar sounds worried.'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Jumping up Daja called over to Draco, who was looking in the well cautiously. "Come on, Dragon, we've got to get over to Discipline, now! Harry and Ron were talking to each other and said they are going there- we have to find out what is wrong!"  
  
"I don't care what is wrong with them!"  
  
"Too bad," snapped Daja, "we're going!"  
  
As they approached the cottage, Daja saw Hermione and Tris turning the corner and sprinting up the steps. They had a strange look of anxiety on their faces. By the time Daja and Draco had stepped in thorough the door, they could hear more voices (those of Ron, Sandry, Briar and Harry) coming in from behind them. Daja turned and saw them step in the cottage. They stopped in their tracks.  
  
When she turned around again to face the hall, Daja noticed everyone was deathly quiet. Finally Lark spoke.  
  
"There's a man who wants to talk to you," she said, "He won't state his name, but he mentioned a few of yours. I think he knows who you are."  
  
Sweating, Harry asked what he looked like, thinking to Ron and Hermione, that it was probably a Death Eater.  
  
"I don't know," said Lark softly, "He wouldn't take his off his cloak or even put down his hood."  
  
This increased Harry's suspicion greatly.  
  
"He's in the kitchen talking to Niko- or, um, actually he is refusing to say much to Niko. But still, Niko is trying. Why don't you go on in and see."  
  
She gestured toward the doorway. Harry took a deep calming breath and stepped into the kitchen.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
We've got the next chapter hostage, and if you ever want to see it we need 30 reviews! (MUAHAHAHAHA) we know who it i-is and you-ou-ou do-on't! MUAHAHAHAHAHA (more insane laugher for hours upon hours)  
  
By the way, next chapter is extremely interesting, and I can't wait for y'all to read it! My apologies if you don't think so, but. still.  
  
We is evil, yes we is! Aren't we?  
  
Yes, yes we is!  
  
Oh, ok, just making sure. 


	11. A Cloaked and Haggard Stranger

Finally! u guyz r slow reviewers!  
  
Oh, btw, there are some OotP spoilers, so if u haven't read the fifth book (why in Mithros' name are you reading FF's if you have the fifth book to read???) I would advise you not to read this chapter. (Too bad 4 u, 'cause this chappy rox- my favorite chappy so far!)  
  
Well, Shinimegami-Rin, that is a good question. Actually my papa knows Latin and we asked him what the Hogwarts motto (Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus) means and he said "Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon," (Or actually, Dragon Sleeping Never Tickle but that's not important) Also Malfoy or "Mal foi" means "bad faith" in French. Malfoy has "mal" in it, also meaning evil. And so we found out that Mr. Draco Malfoy actually means Mr. Dragon Evil/Bad Faith  
  
BTW #2, I will NOT ever do a slash story! *gives involuntary shudder  
  
AND NOW, [Drum roll] On with the story...............  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~  
  
In the corner was a person. A person who was hooded and cloaked, his hands in his lap. His clothes were ragged and torn, and his thin body was slumped over in a chair. He was breathing heavily.  
  
"You really should go to the houses of healing," said Niko softly to the man. Sitting across from him, Niko was trying to use a soothing voice to persuade him into talking. The man shook his head. Niko succeeded, but the man said very little:  
  
"Harry," he rasped, "need to talk to Harry."  
  
Harry stepped back- he didn't recognize the voice. Was he a death eater?  
  
"What do you want with me?" Harry asked bravely  
  
"Harry," the man replied simply  
  
"I am Harry!"  
  
Briar stepped into the room, followed by Ron, Hermione, Sandry, and Tris. "He his Harry, sir. We've gotten our bodies switched."  
  
The strange man shook his head at Harry's body. Ron, Hermione, Sandry and Tris were watching Briar and the stranger in turns, to see what would happen. Harry and Briar were both staring at the gaunt newcomer.  
  
Briar stood his ground, bravely.  
  
The man looked up, his eyes haunted and deep in his head. Suddenly Briar jumped back in fear; the man looked like a corpse.  
  
Turning his head to Briar's body- Harry- the man stood up slowly with a pained look on his face.  
  
Harry blinked. He thought he had seen—but it couldn't have been there. Taking a step forward, Harry briskly cleaned his glasses and he took another look at the man. His jaw dropped.  
  
"But- but you were- you fell through the veil! Dumbledore- Remus- everyone thought you..." Harry's voice died in his throat, which closed up.  
  
It was Sirius! His godfather was alive!  
  
"Is it really you?"  
  
The man smiled grimly, lowering his hood with tired, chapped, and bleeding hands.  
  
Not daring to believe it, Harry shook his head as if to clear his vision, "S-Sirius? You- you look terrible." It was true. He looked as bad, if not worse, than when he had seen him the first time when he escaped from Azkaban.  
  
"I was taken by the Death Eaters." The man answered slowly, every word seemed to be costing him strength, "You may remember near the end of the fight, Bellatrix hit me with an extremely strong curse. I don't even know which it was, but the next thing I knew, Voldemort was standing over me with an insane grin on his face and his wand pointed at me. He said something about Dumbledore, and told me revenge was his."  
  
Sirius' face was contorted with anger. His ghost-white skin stretched across the cheekbones of a fading man- something Harry hadn't thought possible after his twelve years in Azkaban. Harry had thought, after the wizard prison, Sirius could handle anything.  
  
Harry's head was spinning with new information. His godfather wasn't dead! But he nearly looked the part. Again, Harry realized, Sirius' eyes held the haunted look that Azkaban had left permanently inscribed in the back of Sirius's mind. For a short time, Sirius had been recognizable as the carefree boy Harry's parents had known, but it appeared that Voldemort had tortured this look into him once again.  
  
"What did he do to you?" asked Harry softly, barely able to force his voice to work. Voldemort was pushing the limits again. Here was another reason for hating him.  
  
"He..." Sirius paused and took a deep breath. It was obvious to Harry that he didn't want to talk about it. "He practiced some new curses... and some old ones. At some point I couldn't stand it anymore and I guess I got transported here. I was miles away from this spot when I heard talk of strangers at a place called Winding Circle. I thought that these strangers may have been transported here like I was." Sirius' eyes moved to the floor again as he began to raise one hand as if to cushion his head. His arm shook so violently that he abandoned the idea. "I walked, asking people here and there for news, information, and the whereabouts of Winding Circle. All the while I was using this disguise, in case someone recognized me."  
  
Harry took another step toward his godfather, still unsure whether he was real or not. Looking up at Harry again, Sirius relaxed into the chair, face settling into a peaceful expression, head falling back- and fainted.  
  
Running over to Sirius's side, Harry touched his hand. It was as cold as ice. "Sirius," he whispered. Standing up, Niko took the other hand of the man before him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Harry and Ron, accompanied by Briar, were sitting by Sirius' bedside. His face and hands were now hot to the touch, rather than the ice-cold it had been four days previous. Due to the lack of healers (there was another minor plague a ways to the north) they had been doing their best to heal Sirius without using any magic. Hermione had been doing a fine job instructing the others so far -although she hadn't been able to come to see Harry's godfather yet today- as she had become accustomed to the muggle healing methods used by her parents. (AN: remember, the kids are still not accustomed to each other's magic's)  
  
As the three boys sat watching Sirius sweat, tossing and turning, in his sleep, they mind-talked to one another (Briar was standing and had his hand on Ron's shoulder so he would be included in the conversation).  
  
'Well, we could have a game of chess right here in the room,' suggested Ron.  
  
'No good,' replied Harry, 'You always win, and I'm really not in the mood for a miserable loss.'  
  
'What's chess?' wondered Briar.  
  
'It's a game,' Ron thought huffily, annoyed that anyone in this world or their own wouldn't know what chess was.  
  
'Besides, Ron, I don't think they even have any chess boards here in Winding Circle- and certainly not any magical ones.' Replied Harry.  
  
'Well, I suppose we could do it the muggle way-' thought Ron, disgusted.  
  
'No. Ron, I've just thought- that's a two person game anyway, it would leave someone out each time.' Harry said pointedly.  
  
'Fine!' Ron thought, rather snappishly, 'We'll just sit here and watch him breathe.'  
  
Ron shook Briar off and turned to face Sirius.  
  
Harry thought Sirius still looked rather ill. He was extremely thin and gaunt. He may not have eaten for a long time before he came here, Harry realized.  
  
'This is depressing,' Harry thought to Ron.  
  
'Yeah, I know. I wish he would wake up, so we would know he was still alive. He is barely breathing.' Ron thought.  
  
Harry realized with a jolt that Ron was right. The chest of the man before him was rising so slowly and in such a small amount that Harry couldn't be sure it wasn't his imagination.  
  
'D'ya think we should wake him?' Harry wondered  
  
'Dunno- we could.' Ron paused, thinking, 'I think we should let him sleep. We'd know if he'd, you know-.'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
He was in dog form, running as fast as his paws could carry him across the graveyard. Voldemort had been torturing him for the last few days with untested curses. Turning his head, Sirius saw the Death Eaters still following him- they were gaining. Sirius knew he couldn't keep up this pace forever, already he was tired and aching from- well he didn't want to think of it. Directing his gaze again in front of him, he heard two loud popping sounds on either side of him. Death Eaters, he thought desperately. Great. He was going to be caught. Again.  
  
Racing around a section of turned-up earth, Sirius ducked behind a headstone, catching his breath.  
  
"I know you're here, Black." A female voice teased from behind him. Bellatrix. "Why don't you come out to play." It wasn't a question.  
  
Sirius then heard his cousin talking to herself and him at the same time, "You know, Sirius, I know all about how you are an animagus. I saw you change one time, when I was to visit. It was the summer of your fifth year at Hogwarts. So dog or not, come out, you accursed traitor! A traitor to the name of Black!"  
  
Without looking back, Sirius began to creep along the set of headstones, carefully keeping at least three at a time between him and the one who tried to kill him.  
  
"If you do not show yourself, Sirius Black, I will personally make sure the rest of your life, not that it will be long, is used for testing out new curses." Her cruel laughter filled the air. She muttered something under her breath, and Sirius felt a hot strand of magic encircle his body.  
  
"Aha!" she said as Sirius, still in dog form, was pulled from behind a headstone, and into the view of at least a dozen Death Eaters.  
  
Quickly changing into himself again, Sirius realized that he was wandless and, so, defenseless.  
  
"Yes, my little cousin, it is nice to see you again in our clutches." Bellatrix was grinning.  
  
"It isn't worth it, Bella" Sirius croaked, "The Dark Lord will fall despite you being on his side. Harry will make sure of that."  
  
"HA! Do you actually believe that, Sirius? You are not so smart as I thought."  
  
"You disgust me." Said Sirius, spitting on her feet.  
  
"Avad-" started one Death Eater.  
  
"No," Bellatrix interrupted, "This one will be more fun to play with alive."  
  
Crawling backwards, Sirius hit a headstone and gasped as a wound on his side reopened.  
  
"Crucio."  
  
Pain. Sirius could think of nothing else. Pain. Every inch of his body was being pierced by knives. After a few minutes, his body almost numb, Sirius felt the curse lift.  
  
When a knife goes in, it hurts. Coming out it hurts just as much, if not more. The aftereffects of this curse were like that. Sirius moaned, rolling over on the ground.  
  
"This is boring," said a Death Eater, "He isn't even screaming! Can we kill him now?"  
  
"No, not yet," said Bellatrix, "We will make him scream."  
  
"I will not," Sirius rasped, his voice not quite working, "I will not scream for you."  
  
"If you don't I will only torture you more, cousin." Said Bellatrix gleefully, raising her wand with a flourish.  
  
Pulling himself off the ground, Sirius tried to walk away. Stumbling he began to transform. He had barely dragged himself three feet when Bellatrix began to laugh again.  
  
'Could I be anywhere worse?' Sirius thought desperately as his knee caught on a piece of a broken tombstone, and was sliced open- blood seeping freely through his robes and leaving a sticky trail behind him. Collapsing to the ground again, the dog closed his eyes.  
  
"No!" yelled a voice in the distance, "You cannot leave, you must stay!"  
  
Opening his eyes slightly in spite of the pain all over his body, Sirius saw the graveyard fading away.  
  
He passed out.  
  
"Look, thewe's a man!" said a small voice somewhere above him.  
  
"He fell fwom the sky!" said another.  
  
"Mommy! Mommy!"  
  
Sirius opened his eyes slowly and took in the scene around him. There were three small children standing above him. One was pointing at Sirius, although facing the opposite direction. Sirius noticed that he was no longer a dog.  
  
All three looked like they were directly from an old history book. The two boys were wearing crisp breeches and starched tunics, and the small girl was wearing a neat little blouse with a pleated skirt.  
  
"Where am I?" Sirius asked, his voice barely above a whisper.  
  
"You is at owr howse."  
  
"Where is that?" Sirius asked patiently.  
  
"Mommy! The man is tawking!" said the little girl.  
  
"Hold on, Freda, I'm coming." Said a woman's voice, loudly. Sirius flinched.  
  
When she saw Sirius laying helplessly on the ground, she gasped. Bending down, she pushed her children out of the way telling them to wait in the house. Sirius tried to sit up, but the woman bending over him pushed him back down. "Let me help you."  
  
Sirius stayed only long enough to have his wounds dressed. Thanking the lady for helping him, he asked if she had a cloak he could use as a disguise.  
  
Confused, Freda's mother asked, "Why would you need a disguise?"  
  
Sirius's face looked completely calm, but inside, he was thinking quickly and frantically. He answered cautiously, "I am hiding from someone who er- " he glanced at the little girl, "who wants to er- kill- uh- me."  
  
"Oh, no!" said the girl's mother, "Yes, my husband had an old cloak. You can have that."  
  
She looked sad for a few seconds, before leading Sirius to a dusty old room. Sirius guessed that this was her dead husbands room.  
  
Sirius took the cloak, thanking the woman. "I wonder, do you know about the others that came that way?" she asked "Four children. They fell from the sky just like that."  
  
"Where are they?" Sirius had asked wearily.  
  
"They are at Winding Circle Temple. That way."  
  
A few minutes later, Sirius left. He walked the way Freda's mother had pointed out, but his body was so sore and worn out that it only took him a short while of walking before he passed out.  
  
~*~*~*  
  
Sirius awoke and sat up. He now recalled exactly what had happened due to the rather accurate and precise dream.  
  
"He's awake," someone said suddenly  
  
"Sirius, you were hardly breathing, and just now, you were tossing and turning so much we almost woke you up." Said Harry in one breath.  
  
"You should've," grunted Sirius, "I was just reliving the lovely little scene when Bellatrix-" He stopped at the look on Harry and Ron's faces (actually Briar and Sandry's faces, but Harry and Ron were making them look like that).  
  
Sirius slumped back on his pillow.  
  
"Sorry, didn't realize... never mind, it's over now."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
At the Houses of Healing, standing around Sirius's bed the third day of his continuous swimming in and out of consciousness barely long enough to drink a little water and fall back asleep, Harry, Hermione, and Ron anxiously waited for Sirius to wake.  
  
Slowly, Sirius's eyes opened, and flicked shut against the light. He sat up gingerly, watching Harry's, and two unfamiliar faces light up at the sight of his awakening.  
  
In rough voice, though one that was much better than the other day, he looked at Ron and Hermione, and laughed, "Which one of you is Ron?"  
  
Ron scowled and said, "Sirius, that's not funny!"  
  
Sirius laughed again, quickly being joined by Harry and Hermione, and eventually, Ron.  
  
"So you three were transported here too?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Yes," said Hermione, "Four of us. We were in potions class and Malfoy added the wrong amount to the potion when I specifically told him-"  
  
"Yes we know! Give it a rest, we know how you are always right and it was all Malfoy's fault," said Ron.  
  
Hermione blushed. "I didn't mean-"  
  
Suddenly, Malfoy walked in the room, and let out a short yelp. "S-Sirius B- Black!" he exclaimed in panic, "But you were killed!" Malfoy looked disbelievingly at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  
  
'Did you know about this? Is this where you've been for five days?!' he thought to the trio, angrily.  
  
'Yes, DRAGON,' Harry thought back, 'this is where we've been- with my godfather who, by the way, is NOT one of your dad's friends or Voldemort's supporters.'  
  
Black's eyes turned to Draco Malfoy. "How did you manage to find out about that?" he asked roughly, "I didn't think Voldemort would-"  
  
"I just heard Potter thinking about it a few days ag-," interrupted Malfoy and then, quailing under Sirius' gaunt gaze, Malfoy stopped his excuse.  
  
Turning to Hermione and Ron, Malfoy thought, 'You believe him? He killed Peter Pettigrew, after all.'  
  
'NO HE DIDN'T! HE WAS FRAMED!' Harry snapped mentally at Malfoy.  
  
'He is innocent, Malfoy,' thought Ron, heatedly.  
  
'They're right, we saw Peter Pettigrew in our third year, right before Remus turned into a werewolf' chided Hermione.  
  
"I feel a little left out here," Sirius said cocking his head in a way that reminded Harry strongly of a dog who was being denied food when everyone else was eating.  
  
"Sorry, Sirius," mumbled Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  
  
Falling back onto the bed again, Sirius closed his eyes. His head was bothering him. He wondered vaguely if they had any potions in this land that would help with the headache.  
  
Suddenly, Ron yelled at the top of Sandry's voice, "FOR THE LAST TIME, MALFOY, HE WAS FRAMED!"  
  
Tumbling off the bed in shock, Sirius glared at Ron (who had gone quite pink after realizing what he'd done) and rubbed his head. "What was that for? If you want to have a shouting contest, let's move it outside."  
  
"Malfoy keeps accusing you of being a turncoat." Said Ron.  
  
"He does?" wondered Sirius aloud- he hadn't heard anything, "Oh, your Lucius's son. But wouldn't you be on his side? That is, Voldemort's side?" Draco flinched, "He is a Death Eater, you know."  
  
"I'm not my father," said Draco hotly, "And, besides, he's in Azkaban."  
  
Startled Sirius sat up on the floor. Then he smiled at the others, "Well he deserves it, the worm. I was in there for twelve years unjustly. I just hope some of Voldemort's real supporters get the same treatment I did."  
  
'Told you,' thought Ron, smirking at Malfoy.  
  
"Erm- am I missing something here? I feel like some of the conversation is being-" Sirius struggled for words, "unsaid."  
  
"Well, Sirius," said Hermione, "We've kind of gotten used to- talking to each other in our heads since we got here."  
  
"Really? How fascinating!" Sirius said with interest blazing through his eyes, "That would have been fun to have at school. Especially for James."  
  
Harry smiled weakly. Walking to Sirius' side, Harry offered down a hand. Sirius was still sitting on the floor. Gratefully, Sirius accepted and Harry helped him back onto the bed, where he lay down and closing his eyes, instantly began to doze off again.  
  
'We should probably leave now,' thought Harry to the others, 'He needs his sleep.'  
  
"Yeah," said Hermione out loud.  
  
Sirius' form jerked, and Hermione covered her mouth and began to walk slowly from the room. The others followed suite.  
  
Opening one eye, Sirius checked that they were all gone, and sighed. He really needed rest, and now, instead of three talkative teenagers (Harry, Ron, & Hermione), he had to worry about eight talkative teenagers.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Thank you for all the reviews, and I would still like more, but I won't hold chapter 12 hostage this time, you see, I got in trouble with Dumbledore and The Ministry of Magic for doing that.  
  
Point out any other information that we got wrong. (grins strangely)  
  
BTW, If you give flames, the fire will be used to toast Umbridge (a LOT), Fudge (only a little), Karkaroff, Malfoy, and Malfoy. Did I mention Umbridge?  
  
Sorry 4 the long chapter- so much to say- (10 pages!!! Even I didn't expect it to be that long!!!) 


	12. A Newcomer

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Chapter 12: A Newcomer  
  
New chapter, just in time for the new year (yeah it is exactly 1:00 here)  
  
Just so you know, I AM quite crazy. *grins like a maniac*  
  
Well here we go!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sirius awoke to find himself being healed by a women dressed in a long habit.  
  
"It's alright, dear, just hold still and don't fight the healing," she said, kindly.  
  
"I'll try not to," grumbled Sirius. He lay back down again and noticed vaguely that a   
  
smooth, cold sensation was spreading throughout his whole body rapidly. After a few minutes  
  
of healing, Sirius felt better. The healer left, to be replaced by a young lad carrying a   
  
bowl of soup. Sirius finished it gratefully. Before the lad left, Sirius asked whether   
  
Harry was anywhere nearby.  
  
"I'll find him, sir," the young man said.  
  
A few minutes later, eight children entered Sirius' room. Most of them started talking at once and until he raised his voice and demanded silence, they continued talking.  
  
"Please pay attention," Sirius said  
  
Everyone grew quiet.  
  
"I need everyone to pay close attention," Sirius said, "We need to find a way to fix this little- er- problem."  
  
After a few hours, the large group had still come no closer to a way to fix their dilemma, but Sirius' mood had been improved greatly.  
  
He thought randomly that it was good to be around kids again, although a few of them seemed to be slightly hesitant to be friendly toward him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
As Sirius thought about a spell that could possibly help their situation, he reached for   
  
his wand and felt a piece of parchment in his pocket. Drawing it out, he remembered that   
  
Remus had given it to him a few weeks ago- it was a list of potion ingredients needed to   
  
brew the Wolfsbane potion that would keep him from turning into a fully-fledged monster.  
  
Sirius read through the ingredients and smiled as he remembered how Remus had insisted   
  
that he couldn't remember where he had misplaced a few, and then asked Sirius if he could   
  
search Grimmauld Place for them... Sirius suspected that Remus had been just looking for   
  
an excuse to keep Sirius occupied.  
  
Remus.  
  
He had always been the bookworm. . . it was true that Sirius and James were the smart ones,   
  
they had not needed to study. Remus had always wanted to live up to his best friends (not   
  
including Peter, Sirius thought bitterly) and had studied so many books. He would probably   
  
be the most useful person to have around right now.  
  
Looking quickly across the room, Sirius saw Niko settled into a chair deeply absorbed in a   
  
book of magic.  
  
"Niko?" Sirius inquired, "Do you, by any chance, know a spell that would bring a person. . .  
  
uh. . . here?"  
  
Looking up, Niko replied quietly, "I don't personally know any spells of that sort, but I   
  
will direct you to someone who could help."  
  
Niko stood up and walked over to a stack of slates and took a bit of chalk, and briskly   
  
wrote something across it. He handed it to Sirius and said, "Take this to Dedicate Windwear,   
  
she will tell you exactly what to do," Niko made to turn around and then remembered   
  
something, "You might want to have Briar help you- he knows his way around Winding Circle a   
  
little better than you."  
  
"He's the one in Harry's body, right?" Said Sirius.  
  
"Yes," Niko said settling back into his chair.  
  
Sirius walked to the door and glanced outside. Ron's body was the first he spotted.  
  
"Sandry?" He asked, "Have you seen Briar?"  
  
Just then, Harry's body walked around the corner carrying a tiny little tree.  
  
"Briar- what is that?" wondered Sirius.  
  
"This is a Shakkan- a miniature tree. It is very old," Briar answered.  
  
"Isn't it around One Hundred and Fifty?" Said Sandry.  
  
Briar didn't answer Sandry, but turned to Sirius. Nervously he asked, "What is it you want   
  
with me?"  
  
Sirius could tell the boy didn't trust him. "Niko said you could help me. Will you take me   
  
to Dedicate Windwear?"  
  
Blinking, Briar turned to Sandry and handed his precious Shakkan to her. He nodded once to   
  
Sirius and turned to begin the walk.  
  
Alright, thought Sirius, gripping the slate tightly, I can do this.  
  
Briar quickened his pace.  
  
Sirius followed suite.  
  
They walked in silence.  
  
Finally, Sirius could tell the place they were headed for. Briar stopped. "You can go the   
  
rest of the way," he said, "It's that building," Briar pointed at the building Sirius had   
  
suspected.  
  
"I'd much rather you came with me, Briar," said Sirius looking down on the young teenager.  
  
Nodding, Briar began to walk toward the building again. He was in no mood to argue with   
  
anyone, especially this strange man.  
  
When they entered the building the first thing Sirius noticed was how perfectly crafted   
  
everything was- not that anything was particularly elegant or fancy- just extremely well   
  
done. Every piece of wood was polished carefully, the metal gleaming, and there was not a   
  
speck of dust in the place.  
  
The next thing Sirius took note of, was the fact that the Dedicates (he assumed this   
  
because they were wearing robes-er habits- of style to match Rosethorn's and Lark's) were   
  
all as clean and undefiled as the room.  
  
"Er. . ." started Sirius to the nearest Dedicate (One with a black stripe on the hem of   
  
his habit), "I need to talk to Dedicate Windwear." Sirius held out the slate. The Dedicate   
  
nodded and set off down a hall.  
  
Wondering whether to follow or not, Sirius took a step forward. Briar grabbed his arm and   
  
shook his head.  
  
Oh. Alright, I guess we don't follow, then.  
  
A few minutes later the first Dedicate came back, shortly followed by another. The lady   
  
behind him introduced herself as Dedicate Windwear and asked politely what she could help   
  
them with. The other Dedicate left.  
  
Sirius handed Windwear the slate Niko had given him. Dedicate Windwear looked at Briar   
  
then at Sirius, and then beckoned them to follow her. She went back down the hallway she   
  
had come from.  
  
"Here I have all the necessary equipment. It will be easiest if you brew the potion.   
  
Unfortunately I won't be able to work the magic until I have finished my morning   
  
meditation, so if you'll excuse me? Here is the procedure you shall follow, call   
  
Dedicate Brice if you have any problems finding the ingredients." Dedicate Windwear   
  
made to head for the door when Sirius thought of something.  
  
"Dedicate Windwear? Are there any- er- werewolves here in this place?"  
  
"Yes, but don't worry, the full moon isn't for another two weeks and by then they will all   
  
be enclosed where they won't hurt anyone."  
  
"Oh," said Sirius aloud- in his mind he added; 'We'll just have to make sure we're out of   
  
here by then.'  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Two hours later, when Sirius and Briar had almost finished the potion, Dedicate Windwear   
  
returned and offered to finish the potion for them. Briar sat down gratefully, but Sirius   
  
remained standing to help her.  
  
"You two have done an excellent job," she said, "I've never known anyone to do this potion   
  
quite right on their first try. Once I had a grown man come in here and try it (trying to   
  
get his wife, I think) and he ended up blowing a hole in my roof and sending himself so far   
  
South that he ended up in the middle of a frozen pond. We had quite a job finding him and   
  
magically melting him out."  
  
The Dedicate continued to tell horror stories of the results of various potions made wrong,   
  
and for once Sirius was thankful that he had paid attention in Potions class.  
  
When the potion was complete, Dedicate Windwear asked for the full name, physical   
  
description of, and some background information on the person they were planning on   
  
transporting.  
  
"Full name: Remus Jonathan Lupin,"   
  
"Let's see, physical description? Okay- moderately shabby appearance, some gray hair,   
  
but mostly brown 'cause he's still young, er- moderate height, uh is that good?" said Sirius.  
  
"That's fine," said Windwear- she appeared to Sirius to be trying to meditate (her eyes   
  
were closed and she was breathing slowly.)  
  
"Right, Background information, er- he is my age, went to Hogwarts school of witchcraft   
  
and wizardry for seven years, he's a werewolf,"  
  
When Sirius said the last bit, Windwear's eyes snapped open briefly, looked disbelievingly   
  
at Sirius for a moment, and then closed slowly and Briar stood up in protest and started   
  
to say something before he looked at Sirius and the Dedicate and then bolted for the door.   
  
Sirius let him go.  
  
"And lastly," said the Dedicate, "Where do you want him transported?"  
  
"Er- Winding Circle, I guess," replied Sirius.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Twelve days.  
  
TWELVE DAYS!  
  
It had been twelve days since Harry, Ron, Hermione and the boy Snape favored had been   
  
missing- or actually, according to Dumbledore, it had been longer.  
  
Remus Lupin was getting frantic. What if they didn't ever make it back?  
  
Dumbledore had told the Order not to worry because he was sure Harry could handle it, but   
  
Remus hated not being able to do anything.  
  
6:59 PM  
  
He would wait until seven.  
  
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.  
  
7:00 PM  
  
Jumping up, Lupin seized a handful of floo powder. Throwing it jerkily into the flames he   
  
stepped into the fire and yelled "Dumbledore's office."  
  
Pulling himself out of the fire, Remus saw Albus Dumbledore sitting in a chair by his desk.   
  
Looking up, Dumbledore smiled at Remus. "What is the matter?" he asked.  
  
"They've been gone for twelve days at least!" Remus snapped, "We should go find them- help   
  
them- how did you say the other four left?"  
  
"Mr. Lupin, please take a seat." Dumbledore said. Remus obeyed, "the four delightful young   
  
children who came to my office for help, said they knew exactly the name of the place they   
  
needed to go and they had a perfect mental image- simply because we do not have those, we   
  
will not be able to follow."  
  
The werewolf put his head in his hands and closed his eyes.  
  
*~  
  
There was a woman in a strange robe standing next to a freshly brewed potion. Her eyes   
  
were closed, but just barely. In her mind a picture was growing- of him.  
  
*~  
  
Remus opened his eyes and looked at the headmaster of Hogwarts. "Albus, I don't want to   
  
lose Harry too," he said, "I've lost James, Lily, Sirius," Remus' voice caught in his   
  
throat, but he cleared it quickly, "I can't- we just can't lose Harry too."  
  
"We won't," the headmaster assured Remus, "They will find a way home."  
  
Remus looked into the elder man's eyes- they didn't hold their usual twinkle. He was worried   
  
too.  
  
"We have to do something!" Remus said determinately, he began pacing the office. A knock   
  
sounded at the door.  
  
"Albus Dumbledore, let me in right now!"  
  
Remus walked to the door and opened it. It was Tonks.  
  
"Hello Nymphadora," Said Dumbledore.  
  
"Tonks," she corrected. "Listen, do you realize those kids have been missing for eleven   
  
days?"  
  
"Twelve," muttered Remus.  
  
"Twelve days." Said Nymphadora Tonks, correcting herself this time.  
  
"Yes, I've just told him again that we should go after them!" Said Remus stubbornly.  
  
"Let me guess, we STILL cannot go after them?!" said Tonks with an exasperated look about her.  
  
"Yeah, that's about right," said Remus.  
  
"Well, would you two like to come have dinner in the Great Hall? The food hasn't been put   
  
away yet, because not all the staff have eaten," Dumbledore's eyes gave a glimmer, "and   
  
you two are welcome to it."  
  
They both accepted, mostly because they wanted to talk more with Dumbledore, but partially   
  
because they had both been more worried about Harry, Ron and Hermione than making their   
  
own dinners.  
  
On the way out of Dumbledore's office, they ran into Professors Flitwick, Snape and   
  
McGonagall. All three started talking at once when they saw Dumbledore. The headmaster   
  
held up his hand and gestured for everyone to leave the stairs. Once everyone was out,   
  
Dumbledore calmly stated that he had not eaten yet and was going to have dinner with   
  
Nymphadora ("Tonks!" Tonks had snapped) and Remus.  
  
The Great Hall was empty when they got there, except for a few students who were planning   
  
what to do the next day- it was a Hogsmede weekend.  
  
Remus was hardly eating: he was pondering various ways to get to- what had Dumbledore   
  
said? Winding Circle?- when he felt a strange sensation. He felt as if someone was looking   
  
for him- from the inside out.  
  
Very strange.  
  
"Albus. . ." he started but then he started to lose his voice.  
  
Not being able to talk, he tapped Dumbledore on the shoulder. The headmaster turned and   
  
looked inquiringly at Remus Lupin, who pointed at his throat, and then his stomach.  
  
Quite suddenly, the Great Hall began to fade out of view.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Ouch!" Remus felt like he had been pulled backwards very fast. He had landed on the   
  
ground, in the grass, most of him had been cushioned, but his head had happened upon a   
  
pointy little rock.  
  
Remus put his hand to the back of his head where he felt a large bump already forming and   
  
a large sticky spot of what he could only imagine to be blood. Taking out his wand, he   
  
conjured up some bandages and deftly bandaged his head. Looking around him he saw a huge   
  
sign, sparkling with magic, that said simply "Direction office to your left, Dedicate   
  
quarters to your right." Directly behind it was a wall that stretched a very long distance   
  
in both directions and except for one gate directly in front of him, there seemed to be no   
  
other entrance.  
  
Remus walked through and turned left.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I honestly didn't come here!" Remus said, annoyed.  
  
"Obviously you're here!"  
  
"But I didn't MEAN to!" insisted Remus  
  
"Well, what do you want ME to do about it?"  
  
"It said DIRECTION OFFICE and I really need directing right about now!" snapped Remus.  
  
"Well, I'm sorry, all I can tell you is that if you go that way you will reach Emelan, and   
  
if you don't it's your fault! Now please LEAVE I have WORK TO DO!  
  
Fuming, Remus wheeled around and stormed out of the direction office and stomped past the   
  
entry guards.  
  
"She's got a temper, eh?" One called after him.  
  
"Temper," muttered Remus, glowering, "direction office!"  
  
Stomp.  
  
Stomp.  
  
Stomp.  
  
Stomp.  
  
Remus Lupin continued on for a few minutes, intending to follow the path around the   
  
perimeter of the circular place he had somehow ended up in, but he began down a smaller,   
  
narrower path instead.  
  
Walking past the rear of an unnaturally clean building, Remus heard a boy talking loudly.  
  
Remus inched closer to the sound until he could hear the words.  
  
The boy had finished, and now a raspy adult voice was saying, "I'm sorry, Briar, I didn't   
  
mean to scare you off or anything!"  
  
"You didn't scare me, exactly," said the boy, "I just wish you had said something about   
  
bringing one of those," he paused, "things here. We don't need more of those!"  
  
"But he may be able to help us- get you guys back to your original bodies and you can do   
  
plant magic again. And he could help us get back to our world."  
  
~*  
  
Briar scowled at Sirius and backed away. This gaunt man that Harry called Sirius was more   
  
scary than a werewolf, for sure. He could tell when to be suspicious of someone from all   
  
those years on the streets- even if most of it was past him- this man was to be feared,   
  
not trusted.  
  
Turning slowly away from him, Briar ran. He ran as fast as he could away from Sirius (who   
  
was in a side yard of the building they had just been in). He ran to the back of the   
  
building.  
  
~*  
  
'"Back to our world," the one had said... maybe they are lost, like I am,' Remus thought.  
  
The boy streaked past him.  
  
It looked a little like Harry, Lupin thought, but he had thought so much about Harry that   
  
he didn't think on it at all.  
  
"Wait!" cried the raspy voice, alarmed, "Briar, don't go! I can't find the way back to   
  
Discipline alone!"  
  
Remus saw Sirius go racing after the boy, and pin him down. Remus did a double take, SIRIUS???  
  
"Let- go- of- me!" yelled the boy, struggling violently.  
  
"Sorry," said Sirius, and he recoiled slightly as the boy swung a kick at him.  
  
"I'm just disappointed that the potion didn't work. I probably sent Remus to the middle of   
  
some lake in China or something."  
  
Remus' jaw dropped.  
  
He ran over to Sirius and pulled him roughly to his feet. "PADFOOT!" he yelled happily,   
  
"But you were-"  
  
Remus looked over to the boy and almost dropped Sirius (who hadn't quite gotten his balance   
  
yet) "Harry?"  
  
"No!" snapped the boy, standing up and inching away slowly, "Briar! In Harry's body!   
  
You're the werewolf aren't you?"  
  
Remus' face stiffened. "Yes," he said, "But not for another three days. . ."  
  
"No, Remmy, not for two weeks! Time is different here!"  
  
"Sirius, I thought you were dead!" Said Remus.  
  
"So did I," said Sirius, "It was Death Eaters. They got me, not quite sure how, but they did."  
  
Remus tried not to imagine anything too horrible as his friend told him the brief version   
  
of what he had told Harry days before.  
  
Turning back to Briar, Sirius kindly asked, "Will you please take me and Moony back to   
  
Discipline? I don't know the way, as I said before."  
  
"Alright," grunted the boy, "But I'm doin' no more errands for Niko!"  
  
Sirius smiled and followed Briar, every so often glancing at Remus to make sure he wouldn't   
  
faint.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
HAPPY NEW YEAR, Y'ALL!!!  
  
Hope you liked ur new year's gift!  
  
Lovely, eh? 


	13. Luck: Good and Bad, Hermione freaks out

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Chapter 13: Luck: Good and Bad  
  
DISCLAIMER: I have not ever, nor will I ever, own any Harry Potter or Tamora Pierce characters. Please don't make me give you all ten dollars of my money!  
  
AN: I am SO sorry I haven't updated for MONTHS! I've had MAJOR writers block (Not to mention a bunch of very difficult classes in school, which I am now past! Halleluiah!) , but I think I've gotten past it and the end of the story is in sight! Well, at least I have it planned out.  
  
AN2: I really luv this chapter. One of my favorites. I surprise myself sometimes. *pats herself on the back*  
  
AN3: And if you get bored while waiting for the next chapters, please feel free to check out my other stories. *grins*  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
As they approached Discipline, Sirius noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione pacing and gesturing furiously but, again, they were saying nothing aloud.  
  
'But what if- Harry, Ron, anything could happen to him,' Hermione thought.  
  
'Hermione, he's fully capable of taking care of himself- he's an adult after all!' Harry thought.  
  
'Shut up, you idiots,' thought Draco, 'As much as I hate to say it, Potter is right, so STOP IT! If you really want to fret, talk out loud so I don't have to hear you!'  
  
'He has Briar with him, too,' thought Ron.  
  
Just at that moment Harry's body raced across the yard and into Discipline's cottage.  
  
'Right,' thought Harry, 'Well, now he DOESN'T have Briar with him, does he?'  
  
'SHUT UP,' Draco thought as loudly as he could.  
  
'Fine,' thought Hermione as she turned to go into Discipline, 'let's go inside and ask Briar-'  
  
Then Hermione gave a cry of surprise, for Remus Lupin had turned the corner with Sirius right behind him. They were both looking quite lost. Racing across to him, Hermione enveloped him in a tight hug.  
  
"Professor Lupin! How did you get here?" she demanded, tears streaming down her face.  
  
"Er- switched bodies?" Remus clarified, looking at Sirius, who nodded, "Who are you, now?" He directed at Tris' body.  
  
"Hermione!" Hermione sobbed.  
  
Harry walked up to Sirius, crossed his arms and said, "What on EARTH did you do?"  
  
"Harry, I don't think we're on Earth anymore," Sirius pointed out, playfully. When Harry narrowed his gray-green eyes menacingly Sirius added, "Niko directed me to Dedicate Windwear, who knows these kind of spells," he gestured at Remus, who was now attempting to pry Hermione off without success (she was quite hysterical and not listening to anything being said).  
  
"So, you reckon Remus will be able to help?" asked Harry.  
  
"I sure hope so," replied Sirius.  
  
"What have you people been doing to this poor girl?" Remus asked as Hermione fell to the ground in a dead faint.  
  
"Oops," said Sirius, "Should've thought of that."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Remus was sitting next to Hermione's bed, ready to comfort her when she woke up. The shock of seeing Remus again had undoubtedly taken it's toll on her. She had been out cold for two hours. Briar, Harry, and Ron were playing a game that Daja had taught them called 'Tracking the Kaqs.' At the other side of the room, Tris, Sandry, and Daja were trying to explain the social classes to Draco, who seemed particularly interested, and kept asking what a "kaq" was.  
  
Just when Ron had gained the lead and let out a whoop of triumph, Briar fell out of his chair, his hand pressed against his forehead, a look of fear and pain pasted on his face.  
  
"Gah," Briar said, "Your head keeps hurting!"  
  
Harry stood up, concerned, "How often has it done that?"  
  
"Only twice, but it HURTS. This time is even worse than the first time!"  
  
"Death Eaters," said Harry, standing up, "I'll go see if I can find them. C'mon, Ron."  
  
"Won't you be seen?" Asked Draco, smugly.  
  
"Do you care?" Asked Ron.  
  
"Not really," Draco replied, "But you might get Sandry and Briar killed."  
  
Briar made a choking noise.  
  
"Don't worry, Briar," said Harry, "the Death Eaters won't recognize us- and we'll be careful."  
  
A loud groan came from Hermione's bed. Everyone looked at her, "Death Eaters?" she said, thickly, "Aren't we in another dimension or something?"  
  
"Yes, I believe so," said Remus, "but it's quite possible they got here the same way we did."  
  
"Okay," said Hermione slowly, sinking back onto her bed.  
  
"What's 'oh kay' mean?" Tris wondered aloud.  
  
"It means 'alright,'" Sirius replied, walking in the room, "Remus, were you lecturing them? They aren't at school, they don't have to learn anything now."  
  
"No, Hermione woke up and asked m-" Remus was interrupted by Sirius.  
  
"No, you probably just THOUGHT she asked you, because you want to demonstrate your great knowledge," Sirius teased.  
  
"This is serious, Sirius!" Remus said.  
  
"Ha ha ha," Sirius said dryly.  
  
"Really," snapped Remus, "Harry suspects there are Death Eaters out there."  
  
Sirius sobered immediately, "Why do you think that?"  
  
"Because my head hurt," said Harry, pointing at Briar.  
  
"Oh, I see."  
  
"And Ron and I are going to check it out," Harry continued.  
  
"Okay," said Sirius, his face unreadable, "I'll go with you."  
  
Harry looked at Remus, who shrugged. Harry, Ron, and Sirius started for the door.  
  
"Wait," said Draco.  
  
"What?" Harry snapped, whirling around.  
  
"I'm gonna come too. I wanna see if my father got out of Azkaban yet."  
  
"You can't-" Harry started.  
  
"I'm going," Draco stated stubbornly, crossing his arms.  
  
"Fine, but you better not do ANYTHING but look!" Harry growled irritably.  
  
Without another word, Harry, Ron, Sirius, and Draco walked out of the room.  
  
'Keep me posted,' Hermione thought, feebly.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
They found nothing out of the ordinary as they searched the area closest to the house of healing, but as they drew farther from their starting point, Harry began to look more worried.  
  
'I can sense them- we're getting closer,' Harry thought.  
  
'How on Earth can you sense them?!' Draco thought scornfully.  
  
'No idea- must come with being visitors in this dimension. Or maybe it's something they do here regularly. Or maybe Briar has made a hobby of –'  
  
'Shut up! Okay I get it, fine, just shut up! Sorry I asked,' Draco interrupted.  
  
'Found anything yet?' Hermione's voiced asked suddenly.  
  
Draco jumped three feet in the air, and Sirius stepped out of the way just in time.  
  
"What was that about?" Sirius demanded.  
  
Harry grabbed Sirius' forearm and thought, 'Sorry, Sirius, Hermione asked us if we had found anything and I think she scared-'  
  
'She didn't scare me- startled me a little but not-'  
  
'Hey, you guys, look over there,' thought Ron, gesturing around the corner of the nearest greenhouse. The foursome drew into the shadows when they saw the seven dark figures approaching.  
  
'Death Eaters,' thought Sirius, 'I'd bet my life on it. I'd recognize those costumes anywhere. Merlin, is it strange to be thinking out loud.'  
  
'You get used to it,' Ron thought.  
  
'Shut up, their coming this way!' thought Draco. And, indeed, at that moment, the Death Eaters drew close enough for the four people to hear what they were saying.  
  
"-would be here, in this circle place," said a silky voice.  
  
Harry distinctly heard the word 'Dad,' thought out loud.  
  
"I doubt there is anyone of import here. Even if Black was here, he still wouldn't know where Potter was," replied a gruff voice that Harry recognized as Dolohov.  
  
"Well, let's not take our time arguing! The Dark Lord ordered us to search here and we're going to search," said another, female voice and Harry almost jumped out of his hiding spot to strangle who he knew was Bellatrix Lestrange.  
  
'Leave it, Harry,' Sirius thought after grabbing Harry's arm (Harry had dropped Sirius' forearm).  
  
"Well, where shall we start?" asked a voice Harry recognized particularly well from a vision he had had last year. Rookwood was it? Rookwood was a pockmarked man who had been quite loyal to Voldemort.  
  
"Ask one of them," one Death Eater grunted, waving a covered hand toward one of the buildings Harry had learned to hold numerous different dedicates.  
  
"Death Eaters don't ask for directions," said a voice Harry recognized only too well. Snape.  
  
"They do if it's on the Dark Lord's orders," growled a voice Harry recognized as Avery's.  
  
"Well then, after you," said Snape, waving his hand at the building.  
  
'Anything yet?' Hermione wondered.  
  
'Yes, there are seven Death Eaters. There may be more but we can only see seven,' thought Ron.  
  
'Do you know who they are?' Hermione asked.  
  
'Malfoy, Rookwood, Avery, Bellatrix Lestrange, Dolohov, and Snape,' thought Harry, ticking them off on his fingers, 'I dunno who the other one is.'  
  
'Okay, I'll tell Remus,' thought Hermione, 'Wait... Snape?'  
  
'Yes, Snape is here along with the other Death Eaters,' Harry thought.  
  
'Hey Hermione, why don't you just have Remus grab your arm or something. Then he can hear what we're telling you for himself and we won't waste time telling him,' thought Ron.  
  
'Yeah, that's what we're doing with Sirius,' thought Harry.  
  
'I'll see what he says,'  
  
~*~*  
  
"What did they say?" asked Remus, anxiously.  
  
"They said there are seven Death Eaters out there including Malfoy, Rookwood, Avery, Bellatrix Lestrange, Dolohov, and Snape." Hermione recited, "They haven't figured out who the other one is, yet, and there could be more that they haven't spotted yet."  
  
Remus Lupin nodded silently and Hermione continued, "They also reckon that it would save time if you- er- listened to the conversation in the way that Sirius is doing, that is, touching a person who can communicate mentally."  
  
"Alright," Remus said.  
  
Hermione held out her arm and Remus took it.  
  
'Can you hear me Remus?' Hermione asked.  
  
'Oh, my! I can hear you inside my head!' Remus thought excitedly to Hermione (at least he hoped he was thinking it to Hermione).  
  
'You get used to it,' Sirius' voice sounded in Remus' head, making him jump.  
  
'Sirius?! Are you-'  
  
'Yes, but you'll have to shut up, Moony, we're trying to listen to these Death Eaters,' Sirius thought.  
  
'Right...'  
  
Sirius turned back to the Death Eaters, who had decided to search the grounds first and then, if they didn't find anything, demand the location of their quarry of some of the novices.  
  
The Death Eaters spread out and began to scout the area for them.  
  
'I have an idea,' thought Harry, turning around to face Sirius, 'What if I went out there and-"  
  
'Harry, I do NOT want you going near those or any other Death Eaters!' Sirius thought sharply.  
  
'But I'd be really careful and-'  
  
'No,' Sirius thought, shortly.  
  
'What is going on out there?' Remus wondered anxiously.  
  
'Remus Jonathan _Moony_ Lupin, you think too much!' Sirius thought, 'You thought too much at school as well but at least then I didn't have to listen to you.'  
  
'Er- sorry,' thought Remus sheepishly.  
  
'And Harry is thinking of going out there and-'  
  
'Make Padfoot let me go!' Harry whined to Remus.  
  
'No,' various people thought snappishly.  
  
'Alright, fine,' Harry gave in.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible.  
  
Oh, and please review.  
  
^__^ 


	14. Where's Malfoy?

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters here. Not any from the Harry Potter universe, and similarly Winding Circle and its inhabitants are not mine.

AN: I'm really, really sorry about the long wait. I had a lot more things going on than I thought. Also I'm sorry about how short this chapter is. Frustrating, I know. But I think I'm finally over my writers block. Yay! I finally know where the story is going! Plot alert! Plot alert!

AN #2: I've only recently realized how OOC the people from Winding Circle are. Especially Briar. Terribly sorry about that. I know it's unlikely that they would act like that under any circumstances. Will you ever forgive me? I hope so.

QUOTE OF THE CHAPTER:

"The landlady says you don't sleep in one of her beds until you've bathed. I have to admit, I would welcome the change myself."

Briar started to back up. "That stuff's unhealthy," he informed Niko. "Maybe you wouldn't be so bony if you stopped doing _this_ all the time."

Strong arms grabbed him; a hostler had been standing behind the half-open door.

"My thinness has nothing to do with bathing," Niko retorted. "Do you undress yourself, or must we do it for you?"- Briar Moss and Niko Goldeye (Sandry's Book)

And now...On with the story!

* * *

¤Back in the Houses of Healing¤

"So, what are we going to do?" Remus asked the group.

"First of all, I think we should tell Lark-" began Sandry (still in Ron's body).

"And Rosethorn," interjected Harry's body.

"Niko, definitely," said both of the girls with unruly hair.

"And we _won't_ forget Frostpine, Daja" snapped Draco, his brown hands covering his face, before Daja could even answer.

"Alright, that's fine," Remus reasoned.

"But since none of us are over there, right now," Hermione pointed out, "we can't communicate with them—er—telepathically."

"You're right, Hermione," Sirius said, "The only thing we can do is deliver the message in person."

"I will," Briar volunteered, wanting to get away from the escaped convict and the werewolf.

"No," Sirius said, "We can't afford to let anyone out on their own."

"I'll go with him," offered Sandry.

"I think we should stick together," Hermione said, "We should all go."

"Not in one group though," Sirius said, "I know how they think, and they think outside the box. We should split into two groups. I'll take one," he looked at Remus, "You'll take the other?"

"Of course."

Harry moved instinctively to Sirius' side. Ron followed him.

"We should probably have at least one of you four," Sirius indicated toward each of the four students from Winding Circle in turn, "in each group, because of your knowledge of the area. So, if you don't mind?"

Briar backed away from Sirius, "I ain't goin' with you," he told Sirius, his vocabulary returning to that which it was years ago, despite all the time he'd spent refining it.

Remus sighed, "Then come with _me_." Briar looked around at him, horrified. Lupin added, "I promise I won't bite you."

Briar looked around the room for support.

"I'll go with you," Draco told Briar, looking uneasily at Harry and Sirius, "I don't like werewolves either."

"He's not that bad," Sandry snapped at the boys, "Stop being prejudice."

"Then you come too," Briar immediately said to Sandry.

"Alright," Sandry agreed, without hesitation. Briar looked slightly surprised.

Sirius looked at Daja and Tris.

"Oh kay," agreed Tris.

"We'll go with you," agreed Daja.

Hermione looked sadly at Sirius and Harry, but determination flitted across her face.

'I'm not leaving Professor Lupin with Malfoy and Briar,' she told Harry and Ron.

'Hey!' Snapped Draco.

'You _are_ being prejudice.'

'Fine. Whatever.'

Hermione walked over to Remus and told him, "I'll go with you, Professor."

Instantly, he told Hermione, "'Remus' is fine, Hermione. Unless you want to be 'Miss Granger,' of course."

Hermione's cheeks became tinged with pink.

"Right. Sorry, Prr-Remus."

* * *

**  
((AN: Just to make this easier, I'm gonna list who is in which group.**

**Lupin's group: Briar, Draco, Sandry and Hermione.**

**Sirius' group: Harry, Daja, Ron, and Tris.))**

'How's it going?' Hermione's voice sounded, inside everyone's head. Before they had left, Harry had suggested they all link hands, presenting an easy form of communication for the two groups. So far it was working well, although Briar had refused to touch anyone save his foster-sister, Sandry and Draco had refused to touch anyone at all. Hermione (the only other person in Lupin's group who could talk telepathically with the others) had volunteered to link arms with everyone else.

'We haven't met any problems at all, so far,' Harry informed the other group.

'We're not too far from the halfway point,' Tris added.

The two groups had taken different (longer) routs to Discipline cottage than were usually traveled, but the four young mages still knew the area well enough to know the halfway points.

'We still have a ways yet before we get to the halfway point,' Hermione said to Sirius' group.

'Oh, _wonderful_,' Draco's voice told everyone.

'What?'

But Lupin's group already knew 'what'.

'Death Eaters.'

All five of the people in Lupin's group could see the Death Eaters, and they weren't too far from being seen _by_ the Death Eaters.

'Is there another way 'round?' Sirius' voice inquired.

'Of course,' Briar told the others, while gripping Sandry's (Ron's body's) hand very tightly.

Sandry knew this was out of nervousness, but gave him a look, raising Ron's eyebrows. Briar softened his grip.

'This way,' he directed, pointing 45 away from the path. The group skirted into the shadow of a large, mostly unused building a few meters from the side of the road.

'Be careful,' came Daja's voice.

'Don't worry about us,' Sandry scolded.

As the mages (and wizards/witches) hurried along, they didn't notice that one of their number was falling behind. Seemingly entranced by the sight of his father and Potions professor.

Surely it wouldn't hurt to have a _quick_ look...

* * *

'Halfway point,' reported Briar a time later.

'Alright. Good,' Sirius replied, 'We've just passed ours a while ago.

'Wait,' came a worried voice. Remus Lupin had turned around and checked their number. Four. Four people.

'Malfoy!' Hermione said, alarmed.

'What?' wondered various members of Sirius' group.

'He's not with us,' Briar made a growling noise in the back of his throat, 'He's gone.'

'DRACO!' or 'MALFOY!' they called out to him, through their variously trained minds.

* * *

Draco approached the group of Death Eaters from behind a large garden. One large bush near the edge served his purpose quite well.

Or so he thought.

After trying to listen in, for a few moments, Draco finally caught a few words.

It was Bellatrix. She was saying something about capture. Potter perhaps?

But Lestrange was cut off.

Draco Malfoy easily recognized the drawling voice of his father.

"There's someone watching us," he told the group. Draco froze. "A girl. A black girl."

Draco sighed with relief.

Malfoy Sr. continued, "Behind that bush."

Draco remembered his current body was not his own. It was that of Daja Kisubo. A trader. A black girl. Bloody Hell.

* * *

Wonderful Reviewers!

Miliko01, holly, wildmage, Raiast, Luisa Adele Reilyn, Monikka DaLuver, Alcapacien, Candystar, and Jedi Alanna

Thank you all So_so_soSO**so** much!

We'll try to update soon, as we say. At least we know where it's going now.

Also, yes, I figured out that Mithros is a _Tortallan_ God, not Emelan, but I don't know what other god would be best to put in for it, and I don't know where all I wrote it down, so just use your imagination (please?) I rather think my time is better spent writing the next chapter. However if it really bothers you, leave a review and tell me (preferably saying other stuff too)

"The Brightest Stars Never Fade"  
Give a sniffle for Snuffles.  
He WILL come back!

TTYLL! (talk to you lot later)

Kiwi Jeanne (& Sqwerty Jeanne)


	15. Oh, there's Malfoy!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything here. They most likely belong to Tamora Pierce, J. K. Rowling and other various publishing companies and stuff. But not me. Nope, not me.

AN: Hey, all! I'm back! Another chapter is out, but this one isn't terribly long either. At least I still know where I'm going, eh? And there was an absolutely _perfect_ breaking point! (Not _really_ all that much of a cliffhanger, after all. Heh)

CHAPTER 15:

* * *

Severus Snape kept his face carefully blank as Lucius Malfoy dragged the young black girl from behind a bush.

Now, Severus wasn't an evil person; he hated seeing innocent people die. He especially disliked seeing innocent _children_ die. But, Severus wasn't a good person either, and he _desperately_ needed to maintain his cover as a loyal Death Eater. Then again, if there was an opportunity to save an innocent child's life without appearing to do so, he would partake.

No luck, yet.

As Lucius Malfoy tried to draw information from the girl, Severus thought about it.

Maybe he _could_ help...

* * *

Draco was terrified. More than he'd ever been in his life. He was terrified of Voldemort, Death Eaters in general and failing potions, but he was most surely _Terrified_ of his father. He'd rarely seen this side of his 'beloved parent.' And he'd never been _quite_ in this type of situation before.

"What do you know?" Lucius Malfoy asked.

"A-about w-what?" Draco stuttered.

"About," his father leaned in close and hissed, threateningly, "Potter."

"P-Potter, s-sir?"

"Yes. Him or any of his friends. What do you know?"

"N-nothing," Draco said, his mind almost completely frozen with terror, "Don't know _anything_,"

"Well, let me persuade you," the Death Eater raised his wand and pointed between Draco's eyes, smirking, "_Crucio_."

Pain.

Pain filled him.

That was all that existed in the world. Pain.

Through his own screams Draco suddenly heard his 'friends' through the mental connection.

'Malfoy!' came Hermione's voice.

'What?'

'He's not with us,' Briar said, 'He's gone.'

'DRACO!' some called.

'MALFOY!' bellowed others.

'Dragon?!' worried Daja.

His bones were on fire, and his skin was melting. Torture beyond belief. It was the worst feeling he'd ever had. He couldn't answer.

After his father had let up on the Cruciatus Curse, Draco lay gasping for air. He found he was on the ground, his muscles sore from convulsions and his throat raw from screaming.

His father asked him again, "What do you know?"

After being subjected to that kind of torture by his own father, for a prolonged period of time, Draco felt suddenly defiant. He decided he would be strong. He wasn't going to turn out like his father, torturing innocent people who _may_ have information that he wanted.

"I-I d-d-d-don't know," Draco gasped, "any-thing... about...anyth-ing called... Potter."

All his life, Draco had thought his father had been in the right, simply purifying the world from dirty blood and blood traitors. That was all. But, Draco now realized, he had been given an _extremely_ distorted version of the truth. His father had picked the wrong side.

He almost hated to admit it, but Dumbledore was right. _Potter_ was right.

Something about this decision must have shown in his face, because a moment later, he was writhing under his father's wand once more.

Draco found he couldn't muster enough energy to respond.

He passed out.

* * *

Sirius felt something jerk from his hand. He was startled to see Harry convulsing on the ground. Looking around at the other children, he saw all four of his charges were doing the same. After another moment two of them began to scream. Before he could decide which ones, the other two joined them. The sound was deafening. Oh, great.

Remus Lupin was having a similar experience. Three of his charges (and he guessed Draco was too) were writhing on the ground, quite obviously in pain. Hermione was the first to scream. Briar and Sandry joined her after a brief moment.

Remus' sensitive hearing, which could pick up a soft bird call from miles away, burned with the sound. He covered his ears, while he tried to think of something to do.

Sirius, who's hearing was almost the same as a normal wizard's, covered his ears as well. He hadn't been trained for this sort of thing!

* * *

The black girl finally passed out.

Lucius lifted the curse and turned his eyes toward Severus.

"Snape," he said, but before he got any further, the sound of several piercing screams met their ears.

"What's that?" Rookwood asked.

"I have no idea," Snape sneered, "Why don't you go find out?"

All of the Death Eaters in the group seemed eager to do this. Snape saw his opportunity. Slyly, Severus grabbed hold of his wand (still in his pocket) and pointed it toward an area a ways to the East (from what he could tell from the sun) of the screams. He muttered a spell and there was a huge explosion (or so it seemed, it was actually just a lot of smoke and a loud 'bang').

The Death Eaters looked in that direction. The black smoke was curling gracefully up, into the sky.

All of the Death Eaters were now interested in leaving their current spot and exploring the surrounding areas.

Knowing that Lucius was itching to investigate, but didn't want to leave their captive, Severus stepped in.

"I'll take over here, Lucius. I've more patience for tough subjects. Especially ones who tend to pass out a lot. If I can't get any valuable information, I'll dispose of the body."

Severus could see that Malfoy was eager to take him up on his offer, but was determined not to show it, "Yes, I suppose that would be alright."

"Do you wish to leave someone with me?" Snape asked.

Malfoy looked around at the other Death Eaters and he, too, could see how all of them wanted to go.

"I don't suppose that would be necessary, Snape. Unless you do, of course?"

Snape flashed Malfoy a smirk which he knew to indicate, 'Do you really have to ask that question?'

"Alright, then," Bellatrix clapped her clawed hands together eagerly, "Let's go."

Before they were out of sight, Severus pointed his wand at the girl and, so the other Death Eaters could hear, bellowed, "Ennervate."

Instantly, the girl opened her eyes and sat up. Severus was surprised at how quickly she had recovered from the curses. He shot her an apologetic look that the Death Eaters couldn't see, and then raised his wand to her again.

He held her under the curse no longer than was necessary.

* * *

Draco awoke to the apologetic gaze of his Potions Master. Draco noticed the other Death Eaters walking away from him and Professor Snape.

This time he was ready for the curse.

His Professor cast Crucio.

Draco noticed that Snape's curse wasn't nearly as strong as his father's. Not that he didn't have the power, or that he couldn't use the curse as well as his father, but more he was trying to _muffle_ it. Strange.

As soon as his father and the others were out of sight, Draco was free of the curse. His professor waved his wand in a circle around the two of them and then helped him to his feet, asking, "Are you alright?"

His voice was cold, but it wasn't hateful. He almost seemed... concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"I'm sorry I had to put you under the curse," he said.

Draco had to ask, "Were Death Eaters always like this, Professor Snape?"

Snape looked startled for a moment before answering, "Always? This is the way we've been from the beginning. The torturing, I mean."

Draco nodded.

"If I may ask, how did you know we are called Death Eaters?" Snape asked, "And my title? Do you go to Hogwarts?"

Draco reminded himself again that he was not exactly his usual self, at the moment.

"Er, well, yes... kind of."

"Who are you?" Snape asked, stepping back and examining Draco more closely, "I don't recognize you."

"Oh, no, you wouldn't, professor. I...I don't _look_ like a Slytherin..." Draco stopped.

Would Snape hand him back to the other Death Eaters if he found out that he didn't want to be evil? Was Snape evil?

"Are you... which side are you on, professor? Dumbledore's?" Draco ventured.

"I can't tell you that. Classified information," Snape said stiffly, still slightly flustered.

"Oh," Draco thought for a moment before confiding in Snape, "I really don't know which side to be on. You were always my mentor, Professor, but I don't think I really want to join the Death Eater ranks."

Snape hesitated. He was thoughtful for a full minute, before finally speaking, "You are Draco Malfoy, are you not?"

Draco was surprised.

But then, Snape was a very intelligent man. He should have known his professor would figure it out.

"Yes," Draco told him, "I am."

Snape nodded, acceptingly, and held out his hand, "Nothing said goes beyond you and I."

Draco felt a rush of sureness and relief. His teacher was on Dumbledore's side. He was _sure_ of it.

Readily, Draco snatched Professor Snape's hand and shook it, "Wizard's Promise."

A bright white light enveloped their hands, sealing the promise.

* * *

Harry slowly became aware of his location... and was surprised to learn that it was not in his own body or Briar's. And he wasn't alone in it.

"Who's there?" he asked, but found himself thinking it. He couldn't control the body.

Hermione's voice spoke through the silence, "Harry? You there?"

Ron came next, "Hermione? Harry?"

"Where are we?" Harry wondered.

"I don't know. The last thing I remember is..." Hermione stopped.

"What?" Ron prompted.

"We were being... tortured... I think. It was so painful, do you remember, Ron?"

"Only a little... I think I... passed out."

"Yeah, me too," Harry agreed.

Suddenly, Harry, Ron and Hermione felt the added presence of four minds.

"What happened?!" demanded Briar.

"We fainted," said Sandry, matter-of-factly.

"I know that. Where did all the pain come from?" Briar said.

"Guys, I think it's Draco," said Daja, "I've got this feeling."

"Must be the bodies," Hermione said, "I mean, because you two have each other's bodies, you know more about what's happening to the other person."

"Yeah, that makes sense," agreed Tris.

"But still, where did all the pain come from?"

"I think it's the Death Eaters," Harry said, "I'm positive it was Crucio. Not as powerful as Voldemort's curse, but someone almost up there. Lucius Malfoy, maybe?"

"Oh, that would be awful!" cried Hermione, "Malfoy, being tortured by his own _father_!"

"Funny," said Ron, "I almost feel sorry for Malfoy, now... er... Malfoy Jr. of course."

"Yeah, me too," Harry agreed.

"Hey!" cried Daja excitedly, "Look outside! We can see through Dragon's eyes!"

"We're in Malfoy's body?" Ron asked, disgusted.

"No, Ron, we're in Daja's body. But I think Draco is still in control of it," Hermione corrected.

"Yes, it appears so," said Tris, pressing her essence against Draco's eyes, "and Daja's right, we _can_ see outside!"

All seven of them scrambled to get to Draco's eyes.

"Hey, that's Snape!" Ron pointed out.

"Isn't that your evil potions teacher?" asked Daja.

"Yes, but he's on the good side. He works for Dumbledore undercover."

They watched intently as Snape looked apologetically at Draco and said "Crucio.", less forcefully than usual Cruciatus curses.

"I didn't know Snape could be apologetic."

"So, if he's good, why is he torturing Dragon?"

"To keep his cover I s'pose," said Harry.

"Hey, we can't feel it." Ron stated rather thickly.

"Yes, Ron," Hermione said, exasperated, "That's because we aren't in control of the body. We can only see out of the eyes. We're not controlling the nerves, but their signals are still going to Daja's brain, which Draco currently _can_ feel. I'm pretty sure that's due to the..."

"Alright, alright, okay. Never mind. We _know_ you're the smart one, Hermione."

"Ron..."

"Hey, the rest of the Death Eaters are gone now," Harry interjected, hoping both to draw his friends off the track of their argument and to point out what might have an effect on their situation.

It worked.

"Yeah, they are," agreed Daja, as Snape suddenly let up on the curse. After waving his wand in a circle ("What's Snape doing?" "He's putting up a silencing spell, Ron, so no one can listen in") he helped Draco up from the ground.

Harry realized there was a reverberating feeling going through Daja's head. Draco had been screaming.

"Are you alright?" Snape asked, his face showing a hair more emotion than he ever had (other than loathing for Sirius Black and Harry's father, of course), which still wasn't a whole lot.

"Are you sure he's on the good side?" Briar asked, hesitantly, "He looks pretty evil to me. Scares me even more than Rosethorn scares Harry."

"Hey," protested Harry, "She doesn't scare me anymore."

Briar made a disbelieving noise.

Harry corrected himself, "...much..."

"Yes, I'm fine." Draco said, oblivious of the people in his head, putting an end to Briar and Harry's debate.

"I'm sorry I had to put you under the curse," Snape apologized. _SNAPE APOLOGIZED!_

"Did Snape just apologize?" Hermione asked, disbelievingly.

"I think so," answered Ron, equally disbelieving, "But I'm not sure. I _really_ wish I had my pair of Omnioculars with me so I could rewind that and play it again!"

"And then use it for blackmail?" Briar asked.

Ron would have grinned, if he could, "Yeah. Something like that."

Draco spoke up, again, "Were Death Eaters always like this, Professor Snape?"

Harry would have sworn, but this is a PG story, so he didn't, "ARE YOU _TRYING_ TO BLOW YOUR COVER, MALFOY?!"

"He never had a cover, Harry," Ron pointed out.

Harry was annoyed.

Snape looked at Daja's body strangely and then answered, "Always? This is the way we've been from the beginning. The torturing, I mean."

The seven people inside Draco's head saw the world bob down and then back up.

"Woo!" Ron yelped, "That'll getcha every time!"

"I feel ill," complained Sandry, "And I wish I had my crystal for light. It _feels_ dark in here.

"I think he nodded," Harry said.

"'Kay," agreed Hermione, sounding quite ill, "I wish he'd warn us next time. Except I don't think he can hear us."

"Probably not."

"If I may ask, how did you know we are called Death Eaters?" Snape asked, Draco, "And my title? Do you go to Hogwarts?"

Draco paused, "Er, well, yes... kind of."

"Who are you?" Snape asked, stepping back and examining Draco more closely, "I don't recognize you."

"Gee... _ya think_?"

"Shut _up_, Ron."

"Oh, no, you wouldn't, professor. I...I don't look like a Slytherin..." Draco stopped.

"Doesn't look like a student at the school at all," announced Briar.

"Are you... which side are you on, professor? Dumbledore's?" Draco ventured.

"He's _really_ subtle, isn't he." said Tris, sarcastically.

"It's a good thing Snape _is_ on Dumbledore's side, or Draco would be _so_ dead right now."

"I can't tell you that. Classified information," Snape said, looking highly uncomfortable.

"Oh," Draco paused.

"I really don't know which side to be on. You were always my mentor, Professor, but I don't think I really want to join the Death Eater ranks," Draco finally said.

"Great," Ron said, "How is Snape going to answer _that_?"

There was silence.

"Say something, someone!" ordered Sandry, "It's too quiet.

Snape finally answered, "You are Draco Malfoy, are you not?"

"_Ha_! He figured it out," laughed Tris.

"Well, it _was_ kind of obvious," protested Daja, muttering, "He's a Kaq, if ever I've seen one."

Draco paused again, before saying, "Yes, I am."

Tris laughed.

Daja made an exasperated noise, "I meant Snape."

"Great. So much for any kind of a cover," groaned Harry, "Let's tell the whole world our identities, shall we?" he added, sarcastically.

"I think we should advise him not to go into the spying business," Briar said.

Snape nodded (which made Tris laugh again. "It's not that funny, Tris." "But it sounds like he's replying to what we say, and it's funny!") and held out his hand, "Nothing said goes beyond you and I."

Draco quickly grabbed Professor Snape's hand and shook it once, "Wizard's Promise."

"Malfoy knows how to do those?" gasped Hermione, "Wow!"

A bright white light came from their hands.

"Ow! Bright light! Bright light!" complained Sandry, "I wanted light but not that much!"

"Well the light's a good thing," Hermione pointed out, "I've done my research on it, and that means the Promise was sealed correctly. It can't be tampered with. If someone breaks the promise, then they are doomed never to speak again."

"Lovely," commented Ron.

Snape leapt back, letting go of Draco's brown hand and looking startled.

"What's wrong with him?" Daja asked, jokingly, "Do I have something on my hand?"

* * *

Draco had just sealed the Promise, when Snape jumped back from him, looking particularly distressed.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked, worried.

Snape didn't answer, but walked up to Draco again and gripped his hand firmly.

Draco watched with wonder (and a sore hand) as Snape's face turned from disturbed to surprised to annoyed and then back to distressed. Draco pulled his hand away, saying, "What was that, Professor? What are you doing?"

Snape shot an annoyed glance at Draco and answered, "I'm talking with the little people inside your head. Please stay silent for a moment."

Snape grabbed Draco's hand again, but not as hard.

Draco was confused.

Draco was _very_ confused.

He had little people inside his head?!

* * *

END CHAPTER.

Ha, ha. Draco has little people inside his end and he doesn't even know it.

So? What do you think? Too short? Everyone OOC? I would like your opinions, please. Just review.

PREVIOUS REVIEWERS:

Monikka DaLuver: Sorry about the wait, was this soon enough?

Raiast: Thanks!

Jedi Alanna: Sorry about the short chapter, again. Heh.

Luisa Adele Reilyn: I know, I'm really bad at doing Daja and Briar. I think Briar is most likely not scared that easily (or that rude) and I know Daja stopped calling people Kaqs. I dunno why I keep writing them like that. I guess it was begging to be done. I'm trying to do better, but I'm not sure how to fix what I've already written.

Alanna Hrncir: Oh, Alanna is a character from one of my favorite books, and I was just putting random names in the breaks. Sorry if it confused you. Here's an update for you!

* * *

Here's me signing off,  
  
Kiwi Jeanne  
  
And me! Don't forget me!  
  
Sqwerty Jeanne  



	16. Reactions

DISCLAIMER: I do not own a thing in these universes. I own nothing. I am but a humble reader and fanfiction writer. Nothing interesting here.

AN: I am so sorry that I haven't updated for a while. I have been very busy and I have been having troubles keeping my schedule together (and myself in one piece). Nine reviews, though, people! Thanks!

Only six pages today, peeps. Sorry.

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN:**

!!!!!Previous Chapter!!!!!

Draco was confused.

Draco was _very_ confused.

He had little people inside his head?!

!!!!!DM!!!!!!

"Professor-?"

"Quiet, Mr. Malfoy."

"Professor… I have little people inside my head…?"

"Yes. Well, not little, but-shh!"

Suddenly Snape leapt back from Draco, again, snarling, "Potter."

"Oh, _those_ people!" Draco said, intelligently. He understood, now, "All seven of them, or what?"

Snape looked critically at Draco, "Seven?"

He grabbed Draco's hand again and, after a moment, made a face, "Yes. Seven."

"Wha…"

!!!!!HAH!!!!!

The seven people in Daja's (Draco's) head, watched as Snape grabbed Daja's hand again and made a face, thinking, 'What are…'

"We don't know, honestly. We were just walking back to Discipline and then we were transported here," said Daja.

"But we _did_ feel the effects of the Cruciatus Curse right before we blanked out," Hermione added.

"And it _hurt_!"

Snape looked taken aback, 'But…you're in Mr. Malfoy's head, how?'

"We've already said, we _don't know_," Harry reminded his professor.

'Well, then, where were you _before_ you fainted?' Snape demanded, looking annoyed.

"We were-" "I was-" "And Lupin said," "My group, with Draco, and then he-" "…and all of a sudden," "…ran off, and…" "…decided that we had to…" "-that Black guy…"

'SILENCE!' Snape was noticeably distressed.

At that moment, Draco pulled Daja's hand away from Snape's grip, asking, "What was that, Professor? What are you doing?"

The people in Draco's head waited silently for Snape's answer.

Snape shot an even more annoyed look at Draco and answered, "I'm talking with the little people inside your head. Please stay silent for a moment."

Everyone roared with laughter.

"Li-little p-p-people!" gasped Ron, between laughs, "That's _great_!"

Snape grabbed Draco's brown hand, thinking, 'We should probably hurry up this conversation incase the-'

"Death Eaters come back," finished random people inside Draco's head.

"Professor-?" Malfoy interrupted.

"Quiet, Mr. Malfoy," Snape snapped.

"Professor…" Draco continued, "I have little people inside my head…?"

"We're not little!" Briar laughed.

"Yes. Well, not little, but-shh!" Snape told Draco.

"Harry is!" Ron chuckled, "He's the only midget here."

"Hey, I'm not a midget," Harry shot back.

Snape pulled his hand away from Daja's, snarling, "Potter."

"Oh, _those_ people!" Draco said, nodding his head a little.

"Oh, _those_ people," Ron mimicked, sounding ill.

"Stop it, Ronald."

"All seven of them, or what?" Draco asked.

Snape looked at Draco and blinked, "Seven?"

He grabbed Daja's hand again.

"Wow, he _can_ count," Harry joked.

"Which one?" Ron asked.

"Well, I meant Malfoy."

"He's not stupid," Daja defended, then added, "He just acts like it."

"Yes. Seven," Snape affirmed, looking back at Daja's face, a sneer on his face.

"Wha…" Draco started.

"I don't know, Mr. Malfoy," Snape said, exasperated, "And neither do they, but they think it has something to do with the Cruciatus curse that you were put under. They felt the effects of it as well."

"Yeah, that's about right," Hermione confirmed, "As far as we know, anyway."

"Must have to do with the whole mind-connection-thing." Draco mused.

"'Mind-connection-thing'?" Snape wondered.

"Oh, erm… When we came here…"

"Never mind, this sounds like a long story."

"Right… er, I'll sum up. All eight of us have a mental connection of sorts. I can mentally communicate with Harry, Ron, and Hermione."

Snape's eyebrows rose into his hair, "Harry, Ron, and Hermione? Not Potter, Weasley and Granger?"

Draco looked abashed, "That's what I _meant_ to say!"

"Fancy that. Draco used our first names."

"_You_ just used _his_ first name too."

"I _know_ that, Ron. That's because he used our first names and it's common courtesy that we do the same," Hermione replied, curtly.

"Malfoy's aren't _commonly_ anything." Ron retorted.

"Even if _they_ aren't, _we_ should be!" Hermione snapped back.

"Can we please stop fighting for a moment?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I'm with Potter," Briar agreed, "You two are enormously annoying."

'Although I am loathe to say it, I also hope you two will cease your bickering. Now, where do you… er… seven think that you would be the most safe, where someone could figure out what is going on?'

"That'd probably be Discipline Cottage," said Daja, "I'm pretty sure that's where everyone else that we can trust is going to be. I'm sure Lark and Rosethorn are there, and I'm pretty sure that Niko is, too. Come to think of it, Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black are probably headed that way right now.'

"Black and Lupin?" Snape said, out loud.

"Huh?" Draco wondered, "What about them?"

Snape looked at Draco directly, "Black and Lupin are here?"

"Yeah, they've been here quite a long time. Black showed up here a long time ago and then figured out some potion that brought Lupin here. They both ended up hurting themselves, come to think of it."

"They did not," Harry said, not really worrying about anybody else hearing him, "Sirius was tortured by Death Eaters and… well, Remus just hit his head on a rock."

"Fascinating. Well, as much as I dislike those… _men_… I admit, this Discipline place would most likely be the safest place to send you eight. Try to keep them on-task. I think it would be prudent to get you back into your bodies."

"When are the other Death Eaters coming back?" Tris asked, practically.

"I believe they will be back fairly promptly, so you may as well leave. I will summon something to burn, so it looks like it was you, Draco. Good luck."

Snape took a step back and faced the opposite direction, pulling out his wand.

"_Accio_," he said quietly. He crouched to the ground and began performing numerous spells on the object he had summoned.

Draco, struck dumb, didn't move for a moment (the seven people who were in his head weren't helping very much, as he couldn't hear them). After he regained his composure, he turned tail and sprinted away.

!!!!!SB!!!!!

Sirius was disturbed… he didn't know quite what to do… all four of his charges had been screaming at the tops of their lungs, and then they had fallen limp.

Enervate hadn't worked on them, when he'd tried it, and he really didn't know what to do next. He had tried touching their hands to see if he could communicate with them mentally, but it had turned out that it was impossible.

Pacing around the small group, Sirius decided that his best bet was to levitate them to Discipline. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done, as there were four of them, but he hadn't been _too_ bad at charms during school.

There was a huge explosion and Sirius flinched. Deciding that that wasn't his prominent problem, Sirius raised his wand and cast the levitating charms.

!!!!!RL!!!!!

Remus Lupin's difficulties were parallel to Sirius's. Coming to the same decision (only a bit quicker, it would seem) Remus levitated the three students. Carefully, he snuck behind a dark blue colored building and led the way around the other side of a patch of trees.

After hearing the same explosion, he passed a small greenhouse which was full to bursting with bright colored plants, the likes of which Remus had never seen before. Knowing he didn't have the time to stop to examine the wildlife, Remus continued on his way.

Rosethorn walked through the back door to see Niko reading. Surprising really, as he had _so_ much else to do.

"What are you doing?" Rosethorn asked absentmindedly, as she walked past him.

"Reading," Niko answered, just as absentmindedly.

"I know that," Rosethorn pointed out dully, as she collected the items she needed, "What is it that you're reading?"

Rosethorn and Niko both felt a twinge of magic, together became more alert, but neither said anything.

"It's called The Jour- " Niko started, but was interrupted when a large explosion went off, somewhere in the distance.

"Oh, Goddess spare us," Rosethorn murmured, angrily, completely and efficiently hiding her trepidation.

Niko set down his book and walked outside. Pushing the door open, gently, he saw an enormous curl of smoke rising from near one of the walls that surrounded Winding Circle, but curiously, there seemed to be no visible damage.

Rosethorn took a step closer to the smoke, and Niko put out a hand to halt her.

"It's a distraction… there's nothing there."

"I know that, but we must warn the othe-"

"They'll be fine. I'm worried about the children. They would be running away from that… unless they can't."

Rosethorn quite agreed and followed her friend across the yard.

**END CHAPTER!!!!!**

Once again, I am sooo sorry, for taking so long to update and for updating so little.

PREVIOUS REVIEWERS:

Nikka Malfoy: Thanks.

Raiast: Oh, don't worry, I'm the only one that's crazy.

Alanna Hrncir: Oh, thanks. You can put it in a binder as long as you don't sell it as your own (not that anyone would, mind you… sigh)

STARINA69: I'm trying to continue… I really am! continues as fast as she can think

anna: I know, I can't keep the names straight. I'm sorry. I am trying to continue as fast as I can (see previous review answer)

Eggo Waffles: You're very welcome, I like your writing style, and I'm glad you like my story (at least enough to review it… that's always a good sign.)

still lazy!! : Yeah… heh… sorry about the wait.

Lioness Anya : I absolutely don't think that Briar would be scared of Sirius, but it fit in with the story, so I wrote it that way… I'm sorry. Also you'll probably have to use your imagination for some of what I write, as it isn't correct when one uses common sense… but I think I lost mine years ago, so… (btw: you are probably more correct than anything I could say about anything, so keep criticizing, plz… huh that didn't make sense in the least. Oh well)

Alcapacien : Yeah, I like how I portrayed Snape in this one (how I surprise myself sometimes) I don't think he is remotely accurate, but it was fun to write.

insanity-is-my-life: Thank you very much. I appreciate the compliment. And I like your name.

If you have the time to spare, please review, it really does help.


End file.
